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Deal or No Deal, Iran-Israel War Is Coming to the Middle East It seems increasingly likely that Israel will strike Iran to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. by Sean Durns

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/deal-or-no-deal-iran-israel-war-coming-middle-east-203135?fbclid=IwAR05rjVvzGDMZwVFeONhM4KADWw2txcdTwb6JO37NiWgNnOlEaXvW-mOyzI

Iran,  Naftali Bennett warned on June 12, “is dangerously close to getting their hands on a nuclear weapon.” In an interview with The Telegraph, the premier pointed out that “Iran is enriching uranium at an unprecedented rate.” Bennett added: “Iran’s nuclear program won’t stop until it’s stopped.”

Bennett isn’t alone in expressing concern.

The United States has also raised alarm. In a March 2022 hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) observed that “Iran has made key advances” and has “decreased its [nuclear] breakout time to several weeks from a year” compared to what it was under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), colloquially known as the Iran nuclear deal. Indeed, in April 2022, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken said that Iran’s breakout time was “down to a couple of weeks.”

On June 6, 2022, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that Tehran was “very close” to crossing the nuclear threshold and that it “cannot be avoided at this point.” Grossi also presented the board with a report “showing that Iran effectively already has enough enriched uranium for three bombs,” the news service JNS reported.

Grossi also told the IAEA’s board of governors that “Iran has not provided explanations that are technically credible in relation to the Agency’s findings at three undeclared locations in Iran.” Grossi noted that Iran has also failed to provide the IAEA with “the current location, or locations, of the nuclear material and/or of the equipment contaminated with the nuclear material” that was moved from the site of Turquzabad in 2018.

Adding to concerns, the Islamic Republic has begun installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its underground enrichment plant in Natanz and has said that it plans to install more at other sites. The centrifuges will enable the Islamic Republic to increase enrichment by as much as 50 percent.

EU Signs Deal with Egypt and Israel to Boost Gas Exports to Europe by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18663/eu-egypt-israel-gas-exports

Over time the agreement could spur new investment in gas exploration and infrastructure in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and Israel and potentially transform the Eastern Mediterranean into an energy powerhouse.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement as “a big step forward in the energy supply to Europe” and “the first step leading to a Mediterranean-wide agreement.”

“The war in Ukraine has really changed the equation in a way, including for the EU where they’re willing to overlook, at least in the short term, the desire to go green as soon as possible.” — Dov Lieber, The Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2022.

The European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt that paves the way for potentially significant quantities of Israeli natural gas to be shipped to Europe.

The trilateral agreement, signed on June 15 in Cairo at a meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), an intergovernmental organization, calls for Israeli gas to be sent to liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Egypt. From there, the gas in liquid form will be transported across the Mediterranean Sea on LNG vessels to markets in Europe.

Initially, the volumes of Israeli gas sent to Europe will be relatively low due to a combination of factors, including infrastructure limitations, the high costs of producing and shipping LNG, and the politics of climate change and clean energy. Over time, however, the agreement could spur new investment in gas exploration and infrastructure in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and Israel and potentially transform the Eastern Mediterranean into an energy powerhouse.

Leaked Documents Reveal Wide Scope of China’s Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang by Lawrence A. Franklin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18644/china-xinjiang-human-rights

One of the leaked documents, which contains “a shoot to kill order” for guards in the camp’s watchtowers, confirms that these camps are indeed prisons. Another leaked report stipulates how detainees are to be transported from one site to an alternate location: ankle shackles, handcuffs and hoods.

Previous leaks of official documents, unauthorized films, commercial satellite images and testimony from escaped former inmates have scripted a profile of the hell that the Chinese Communist state has crafted for the Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. This massive province-size gulag regime includes forced abortions, sterilization and rape of female detainees, separation of husbands and wives, removal of children from the custody of parents, obligatory retraining of workers in skills supportive of CCP economic goals, and daily ideological indoctrination of inmates.

Democratic countries should distribute these leaks globally as cautionary warning to all societies that the CCP’s projected panda bear image of China obscures the reality of a quite different animal with an insatiable appetite.

Documents and photos of thousands of ethnic Uighurs arrested by Chinese authorities, made public in late May, lend additional indisputable evidence to the Communist regime’s massive human rights violations in Xinjiang. Many of the leaked documents are official Chinese Ministry of Interior dossiers of incarcerated individuals just from Shufu, one among 61 counties in Xinjiang Province. The Shufu County in the Kashgar Prefecture is the site of several large internment camps.

“We Are Your Death”: The Persecution of Christians, May 2022 by Raymond Ibrahim

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18651/persecution-of-christians-may

In the video, the Christians appear on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs. A man holding a knife stands behind them. The terrorists claim that the murder of these 20 Christians is “payback” for ISIS leaders killed three months earlier in Syria by the U.S…. [A] 2015 video [Muslim terrorists slaughtering 21 Christians in Libya] received six times less media coverage than the killing of a gorilla about the same time. The video of the Nigerian Christian also barely made a peep in the Western media — as if the ritual slaughter of Christians is now so normal, it does not merit a report. — saharareporters.com, May 12, 2022, Nigeria.

The same day the video was released, a Muslim mob beat, stoned and then burned the body of Deborah Emmanuel, a Christian college student who earlier had refused the sexual advances of a Muslim man. — Ganzi Magwi, Twitter, May 12, 2022, Nigeria.

“We know and have evidence of how some of these allegations of blasphemy are false and just for blackmail or settling scores with perceived enemies or well-mannered young girls who have refused sexual advances by the opposite sex from another religion. We are also aware of how fanatics have in the past raised lies in the name of blasphemy.” — The Rev. Joseph John Hayab, Morning Star News, May 23, 2022, Nigeria.

Anooshavan Avedian, a 60-year-old Iranian-Armenian Christian, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for teaching other Christians in his house church what Judge Imam Afshari called “educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam.” — articeeighteen.com, May 5, 2022, Iran.

A married Muslim couple who converted to Christianity face a 100-lashes punishment on the bizarre charge of “adultery.” — Morning Star News, May 3, 2022, Sudan.

The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of May 2022:

Sudan: The Genocide No One Talks About by Pierre Rehov

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18632/sudan-the-genocide-no-one-talks-about

Civilian institutions and some media outlets, including the BBC, are concerned that this new puppet government is simply a cover for the return of Bashir and that, although he is in prison, he is behind every development in the Sudanese government.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61550100

This, apparently, is also the conviction of El Nur. He notes with distress that the massacres organized by the Janjaweed and the Rapid Intervention Forces have not seen any let up https://twitter.com/AbdulwahidElNur Peaceful demonstrations take place daily in Khartoum and the rest of the country. They are interrupted by the police and state militias, who fire live ammunition at the crowds, while raids continue throughout Sudan. Homes are burned. Villagers are forced into the desert without food or water. Summary executions take place. Women and children are crushed by cars. Students are mown down by bullets.

To this day, although the American government has scrupulously honored its part of the agreement, the Sudanese authorities have been careful not to respect the slightest paragraph.

In northern Sudan, the Wagner Group, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, have, with the apparent complicity of the regime, taken over the main gold mines of Al-Ibediyya. Day and night, extracting this gold is carried out by “free” Sudanese whose symbolic salary is close to slavery. Where does this gold go? No one is sure, but reportedly it could be feeding the coffers of Moscow and perhaps those of its ally, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran.

The latest news is that the Biden administration has suspended all aid to Sudan, including that linked to its normalization agreement with Israel, and has informed Jerusalem that no support should be given to the Khartoum government until there are democratic elections.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-708124

https://www.altaghyeer.info/en/2022/06/01/us-calls-on-israel-to-support-democracy-in-sudan/

We may have to wait for a new coup d’état. Perhaps, this time, it will be led by the Sudanese people at the instigation of El Nur, the “Mr. No” who has always refused to compromise with dictatorial regimes.

In Darfur, an area of Sudan, massacres have been taking place on a daily basis for several decades. This is happening everywhere in the country, even before its independence.

But who is talking about it?

The Western world seems lack empathy, perhaps due to its weariness in the watching this tragedy for so long, and masked by geopolitical and economic interests.

The Iranian octopus predator at the US’ backyard:Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

https://bit.ly/3xPrZIF

Iran’s Ayatollahs – a clear and present danger to the US

The Saudi ArabNews reported that “the presence of Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Latin America is considered important by Iran, since it provides a base from which it could strike against American targets…  Iran has infiltrated not only Argentina, but also Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Guyana, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Colombia…. In Foz do Iguacu, Brazil there is the largest Muslim community in the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil Tri Border Area. Iran is able to infiltrate and manipulate that community…. Iran’s agents are potentially able to enter the US through legitimate border crossings, or among convoys of illegal immigrants….. Meanwhile Hezbollah continues its efforts to expand its terrorist activities [in Latin America]….

“[The Iranian proxy] Houthi militants transport weapons from Brazil to Yemen….  Hezbollah is involved in the illegal arms trade in Brazil, maintaining contacts with Brazil’s PCC (the most powerful criminal organization in Latin America)…. Brazil’s Forjas Taurus, the largest arms manufacturer in Latin America, is involved in sales of weapons to [pro-Iran] Yemeni arms dealer….”

According to the British E-International Relations, “Iran may well be the most important, and at the same time the most complex and the most volatile, of all the foreign policy problems with which the US must deal…. Iran continues to infiltrate [the US’] backyard….

“Iran’s foreign policy toward Latin America can be seen not only as antagonistic toward the U.S. and its national security interests. It fulfills Iran’s attempt to establish a greater presence in the US’ own backyard….

“Iran’s Latin American partners are part of the so-called ‘Pink Tide’ that came to power between the years of 1998 and 2009…. Despite the fact that the “Pink Tide” did not have a clear-cut ideology, they were united in opposition to Washington….”

Arabs to Biden: Shut Down Iran’s ‘Expansionist Project’ by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18628/arabs-biden-iran

Ahead of Biden’s visit, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in a clear message to the US administration and other Western powers, affirmed that any nuclear agreement or future negotiations with Iran must address the Iranians’ “destabilizing behavior in the region, their support for terrorist militias, and their missile program.”

“Western countries prefer to talk about upcoming measures, preparing us for their failure to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but the truth is that we are in a race against time, and it is still possible to force Iran to abandon its secret plans to acquire nuclear weapons. The problem is that the entire international community does not seem serious and resolute in dealing with this issue and deterring Iran.” — Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, founder and chairman of the Gulf Research Center, alanba.com.kw, June 14, 2022.

Iran thinks with the “mentality of an empire” and that is why it is continuing its efforts to extend its control to several Arab countries. — Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, alanba.com.kw, June 14, 2022

Washington’s Arab allies have repeatedly warned that the US against complacency with the Iranian threat, “specifically after the instructions of the administration of former President Barack Obama to build a partnership with the Tehran regime under the roof of the nuclear agreement that contributed to Iran’s pervasiveness, and gave it free rein, allowing it to increase its hostile activities against the countries of the region without being held accountable for the consequences of its reckless policies.” — Khaled Al-Yemany, former foreign minister of Yemen, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

[T]he Arab countries have always preferred dialogue with Iran, but this was seen by the mullahs as a sign of weakness. — Khaled Al-Yemany, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

Tehran is using negotiation diplomacy to achieve more military gains and develop its arsenal in the nuclear and missile fields and missile technology,” he said. “The reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirm that Iran is far from the commitments it made in the nuclear agreement, and it is progressing to build a nuclear bomb. A nuclear Iran, its expansionist project that destabilizes regional and international security and stability will be more ferocious and its ambitions will transcend all borders, and it must be deterred before it is too late.” — Khaled Al-Yemany, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

[T]he Arab and Western media have remained silent about the Iranian people’s protests against the corruption of the regime, which spent its wealth to destroy four Arab countries (Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq). — Abdul Jalil Al-Saeid, Syrian author, al-ain.com, June 7, 2022.

The Arabs are saying that they expect the Biden administration to reverse its stance on the mullahs and act in accordance with reality: that Tehran poses a catastrophic threat to America’s allies – all of its allies, Arab and Israeli alike – in the Middle East.

As US President Joe Biden prepares to visit Saudi Arabia and Israel in mid-July, Arabs are sending him a number of messages regarding the need to deal with the threat that Iran’s mullahs pose to their security and stability.

The Arabs, especially those living in the Gulf states, continue to express deep concern over the Iranian regime’s ongoing efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.

President Biden’s Nobel Peace Prize? by Pete Hoekstra

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18630/biden-nobel-peace-prize

As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

[T]here can be no downplaying the importance and scope of this deal or the potential for greater peace in the region without a nuclear Iran destabilizing the area….

The UAE-Israel Business Council expects up to 1,000 Israeli companies may begin operating in Dubai by the end of the year. This is also a major development.

CEPA is a win-win-win accomplishment. The agreement opens a window of opportunity not just for the US, but also for Israeli companies to do business in the UAE, and more importantly, it will serve as a gateway to other parts of the Middle East and Asia.

The announcement of CEPA pointed the way to three real and potential impacts that Biden could have in the Middle East:

A blossoming of bilateral initiatives within the private sector and civil society;

Geopolitical and economic benefits will have spillover effects across the region, and possibly the world; and

Opening channels of communications between the Arab states of the Gulf and Israel to further peace and prosperity in the region, including the Palestinians.

May this work — especially, under the far-sighted leadership of Biden, if he eliminates Iran’s nuclear threat — continue to bear more fruit.

As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

Europe’s Leaders Must Not Stumble Towards a New Munich by Con Coughlin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18634/ukraine-russia-new-munich

Mr Macron, in particular, has emerged as the chief European cheerleader in favour of Ukraine making concessions to Russia to end the fighting, while the leaders of Germany and Italy, which both rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs, are also said to favour Ukraine ceding territory to Moscow – a result that would only whet the appetite of other predators looking on.

Rather than agreeing to their demands, Mr Zelensky responded by pointedly reminding his visitors that the more weapons Ukraine receives from the West, the faster it will be able to liberate its occupied land and end the war.

In this context, plans by the European Union to offer membership to Kyiv represent a welcome gesture of support for the Ukrainian people, one that should provide a much needed morale boost for Ukrainian forces.

In what amounts to a significant geo-political shift in Europe, the European Commission has given its backing to Ukraine’s bid to be given candidacy status, the first step towards achieving full EU membership.

The challenge for the EU now will be to make sure priority is given to processing Kyiv’s application, and not allow it to become caught up in the stultifying bureaucracy of Brussels.

Any attempt by the EU to delay Ukraine’s membership of the bloc will simply be taken as a sign by Mr Putin that Europe is not prepared to defend its allies, and encourage the Kremlin — and others — to launch further acts of aggression.

At a time when there is mounting concern that European leaders are suffering from “war fatigue” over the Ukraine conflict, the prospect of Kyiv becoming an official candidate for European Union membership constitutes a much-needed morale boost for the Ukrainian people.

Saudis Crow Over Biden Coming Hat-In-Hand to Riyadh The man who promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” now begs them for oil. Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/06/saudis-crow-over-biden-coming-hat-hand-riyadh-hugh-fitzgerald/

What was once planned as a quick visit to Israel-and-the-Palestinians by President Biden has become a three-way affair, with Saudi Arabia not only added to the itinerary, but has become the main event, the meeting in Riyadh with the Saudi Crown Prince will overshadow his lightning visits to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In Israel, Biden will attend the Maccabiah Games and no doubt discuss with Prime Minister Bennett ways for Israel to tamp down “tension” in the area – even though all such tension is provoked by the Palestinians – and he will repeat, in his conversations with both Israel and the Palestinians, the latest mantra of the Bidenites, that he “looks forward to reaffirming his lifelong commitment to a two-state solution and to discuss the ways in which we might rekindle a new political horizon that can ensure equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and dignity to Israelis and Palestinians alike.“

I’m not sure Israel and the Palestinians can have “equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and dignity,” given the failure of the Palestinians to create a free and democratic society – a failure that we see in all 22 states of the Arab League, where either despots or monarchs rule, but nowhere is there a true democracy, of citizens rather than subjects. Nor can the Palestinians, with Islam stunting their mental growth, ever hope to rival the advanced state of Israel, with the astonishing inventiveness of its people. In Israel innovation is welcome; Muslim Arabs regard innovation, or bida, with deep suspicion. As for “equal measures of…..dignity,” both Hamas and the PA have shown how little they care for the “dignity” of those they rule over, people who are not permitted to choose their rulers by elections, and who are arrested or even executed for daring to criticize those rulers. Why would the people in a “Palestinian state” fare any better than they do now under Hamas in Gaza, or under the PA in the West Bank? It will be amusing, however, to hear Biden repeat that mantra to Mahmoud Abbas – all that guff about “equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity and dignity” – that is, to the very man who is now in the 17th year of his four-year term, who had his harshest critic, Nizar Banat, beaten to death, and who has amassed a fortune of $400 million consisting mostly of aid money he stole.