Iran, Qatar foreign ministers discuss Mideast tensions in Tehran

Iran, Qatar foreign ministers discuss Mideast tensions in Tehran
Sheikh Mohammed is Araghchi’s first foreign guest since he took over the portfolio. (WAM)
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Updated 27 August 2024
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Iran, Qatar foreign ministers discuss Mideast tensions in Tehran

Iran, Qatar foreign ministers discuss Mideast tensions in Tehran

RIYADH: Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani held talks on Monday in Tehran.

They reportedly discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation, as well as developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, including ceasefire-mediation efforts, and ongoing Middle East tensions.

Sheikh Mohammed is Araghchi’s first foreign guest since he took over the portfolio.


Rocket attack targets military base hosting US forces in Baghdad, military sources say

This picture shows the entrance of Baghdad International Airport on March 14, 2023 in Baghdad. (AFP)
This picture shows the entrance of Baghdad International Airport on March 14, 2023 in Baghdad. (AFP)
Updated 01 October 2024
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Rocket attack targets military base hosting US forces in Baghdad, military sources say

This picture shows the entrance of Baghdad International Airport on March 14, 2023 in Baghdad. (AFP)
  • A United States diplomatic facility in Baghdad came under attack late on Sept. 11 but there were no reports of casualties

BAGHDAD: At least two Katyusha rockets were fired at a military base hosting US forces near Baghdad International Airport, two Iraqi military officials told Reuters early on Tuesday.
Air defenses intercepted the rockets, they added.
Two security sources said an initial investigation showed three rockets were fired, including one that landed near buildings used by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces causing damages and fire to some vehicles with no casualties.
A United States diplomatic facility in Baghdad came under attack late on Sept. 11 but there were no reports of casualties.
A US embassy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.
Iraq, a rare regional partner of both the United States and Iran, hosts 2,500 US troops and also has Iran-backed armed factions linked to its security forces.
Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked US troops in the Middle East since the Gaza war began.

 

 


Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East

Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East
Updated 01 October 2024
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Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East

Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East
  • Normally, about 34,000 US forces are deployed to US Central Command, which covers the entire Middle East. That number grew in the early months of the Israel-Hamas war to about 40,000 as additional ships and aircraft were sent in
  • The US has one aircraft carrier in the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been slated to leave around mid-October

WASHINGTON: The US has increased its military presence in the Middle East by several thousand troops, sending an array of fighter jets and other aircraft to bolster the protection of US forces and allies.
The decision brings the total number of American troops in the region to as many as 43,000, including more than a dozen warships.
Israel’s latest surge in attacks in Lebanon, including strikes that have killed Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallahand several of his top commanders and officials, is a significant escalation that has fueled fears of all-out war in the Middle East.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has increased the readiness levels of additional US forces so they are prepared to deploy for any contingency, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
Austin and other leaders “remain focused on the protection of US citizens and forces in the region, the defense of Israel and the deescalation of the situation through deterrence and diplomacy,” said Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
Here’s a look at the US military presence in the Middle East:
Troops
Normally, about 34,000 US forces are deployed to US Central Command, which covers the entire Middle East. That number grew in the early months of the Israel-Hamas war to about 40,000 as additional ships and aircraft were sent in.
It spiked to nearly 50,000 when Austin ordered two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships to stay in the region as tensions roiled between Israel and Lebanon.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, center, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, walks as he visits a military outpost in Syria, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. (AP)

One carrier strike group has since left and moved into the Asia-Pacific. But the decision to send more aircraft is moving the troop total to roughly 43,000.
The Pentagon recently said it was sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East. Officials have not provided details about the deployment to Cyprus but have suggested the teams are part of ongoing preparations for any needs in the region, including the possibility of an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon.
The beefed-up presence is designed both to help defend Israel and protect US and allied personnel and assets. US officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of troop deployments.
Navy warships are scattered across the region, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Oman, and both Air Force and Navy fighter jets are strategically based at several locations to be better prepared to respond to any attacks.
Warships
The US has one aircraft carrier in the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been slated to leave around mid-October. Austin has extended its deployment for about another month, according to one of the officials.
Austin has done the same to a few other carriers and warships in the region several times in the past year so that there has been the rare presence of two carriers at once.

Sailors and marines line the deck of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as it deploys from San Diego on Monday, Jan. 3, 2021. (AP)

A second carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, along with two destroyers and a cruiser, are in the Atlantic Ocean heading east. They will be in the European region in a few days and then travel into the Mediterranean Sea.
American military commanders have long argued that the presence of a formidable aircraft carrier — with its array of fighter jets and surveillance aircraft and sophisticated missiles — is a strong deterrent against Iran.
The Lincoln and one destroyer are in the Gulf of Oman, while four US Navy destroyers and a littoral combat ship are in the Red Sea. The USS Georgia guided missile submarine, which Austin ordered to the region last month, had been in the Red Sea and remains in US Central Command, but officials decline to say where.
There are six US warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. They are the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard and two accompanying vessels and three Navy destroyers. The Wasp would be prepared to assist in any evacuation.
About a half dozen of the F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Abraham Lincoln have been moved to a land base in the region. Officials declined to say where.
Aircraft
The Air Force sent in an additional squadron of advanced F-22 fighter jets in August, bringing the total number of land-based fighter squadrons in the Middle East to four.
That force also includes a squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 fighter jets. The Air Force is not identifying what countries the planes are operating from.

A US air force F-22 fighter jet is seen at an event during the Dubai airshow in the United Arab Emirates on November 17, 2019. (AFP)

The US was now sending in more aircraft, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said. The additional personnel includes squadrons of F-15E, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets and A-10 attack aircraft, and the personnel needed to support them. The jets were supposed to rotate in and replace the squadrons already there. Instead, both the existing and new squadrons will remain in place to double the airpower on hand.
The squadrons would not be used in any evacuation of American citizens but would be used to defend US forces and Israel if necessary, Singh said.
The addition of the F-22 fighter jets gives US forces a hard-to-detect aircraft that has a sophisticated suite of sensors to suppress enemy air defenses and carry out electronic attacks. The F-22 also can act as a “quarterback,” organizing other warplanes in an operation.
But the US also showed in February that it doesn’t have to have planes based in the Middle East to attack targets. In February, a pair of B-1 bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and flew more than 30 hours in a roundtrip mission in which they struck 85 Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force targets in Iraq and Syria in response to an attack by IRGC-backed militias that killed three US service members.

 


US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan

US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan
Updated 01 October 2024
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US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan

US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan
  • “We are pleased by the significant but incremental improvements on humanitarian access,” US envoy on Sudan, Tom Perriello, told reporters in Nairobi

NAIROBI: The US envoy to Sudan on Monday said there had been a marked improvement of aid deliveries into the war-torn African country suffering a devastating humanitarian crisis.
Fighting erupted in April 2023 between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after a plan to integrate them into the military failed.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.
“We are pleased by the significant but incremental improvements on humanitarian access,” US envoy on Sudan, Tom Perriello, told reporters in Nairobi.
“We have had a couple (of) hundred trucks get through areas that were previously blocked.”
More than 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — face acute hunger, according to UN agencies, with famine declared in a displacement camp in the western Darfur region, which borders Chad.
The war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with the World Health Organization declaring a toll of at least 20,000 people dead, but some estimates are up to 150,000.
“The situation is extremely dire and those who are in the best position to stop it seem eager instead to accelerate” it, Perriello said.
Several rounds of peace negotiations have failed to end the fighting.
Multiple truces brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the early stages of the war were systematically violated and the process faltered.
“One track of these efforts overall is a sense of trying to restore the basic norm that even if the war continues, certain issues of humanitarian access and civilian protection should be respected,” Perriello said, blaming “a lack of sufficient will” from the warring sides.
The latest round of US-brokered talks opened in Switzerland last month.
While an RSF delegation showed up, the Sudanese armed forces were unhappy with the format and did not attend, though they were in telephone contact with the mediators.
The talks were co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations completing the so-called Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group (ALPS).
The army objected to the UAE’s involvement in the talks, accusing the oil-rich Gulf state of arming the RSF. The UAE has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The Sudanese army on Monday rejected an accusation by the UAE that it had attacked the home of its ambassador in Khartoum.


Djibouti ‘profoundly alarmed’ by Mideast situation

Djibouti ‘profoundly alarmed’ by Mideast situation
Updated 01 October 2024
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Djibouti ‘profoundly alarmed’ by Mideast situation

Djibouti ‘profoundly alarmed’ by Mideast situation
  • Permanent UN representative: Israel insists ‘on maintaining its occupation of Palestinian territory in perpetuity’
  • Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have ‘accelerated the regional conflagration we all feared’

NEW YORK CITY: The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is the only solution that can lead to lasting peace and security,” Djibouti’s permanent UN representative told the 79th UN General Assembly on Monday.

However, Israel insists “on maintaining its occupation of Palestinian territory in perpetuity,” Mohamed Siad Doualeh said.

Djibouti is “profoundly alarmed” by the situation in the Middle East, including the West Bank, where “violence continues unabated,” he added.

“We’re profoundly saddened by the continued loss of lives, in particular children in Gaza, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, the indiscriminate and continued bombings, and the unlawful occupation in the form of a total siege,” Doualeh said.

Furthermore, Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have “accelerated the regional conflagration we all feared,” he added.

Djibouti is hopeful that all parties involved agree to the 21-day ceasefire called for by the US and France last week, as it is imperative to avoid “all-out war” at all costs, he said.

Doualeh also spoke about the conflicts in Yemen, Ukraine and Africa, particularly Sudan, as well as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Such “geo-economic fragmentation and trade wars” negatively impact global economic growth and, combined with the “crisis of confidence” among UN member states, undermines the credibility of the “multilateral system,” he said.

Doualeh urged the UNGA to “redouble our efforts, overcome our divisions and undertake collective action” in order to end conflicts and put in place policies, investment programs and partnerships to make up for the delays in the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

He also emphasized the need for reform of international financial institutions so that “they’re able to respond promptly and effectively to the emergencies and the systemic shocks facing many countries in the world.”

He added: “Financial institutions must provide developing countries with greater subsidies and access to financing under favorable conditions while maintaining their risk tolerance for investments in sustainable development.”


At least 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, Gaza medics say

At least 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, Gaza medics say
Updated 01 October 2024
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At least 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, Gaza medics say

At least 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, Gaza medics say

GAZA: At least 11 Palestinians were killed, including women and children, in an Israeli strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, Gaza medics told Reuters early on Tuesday.