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THE United States fears what one country will do even more than North Korea, an adviser to President Donald Trump has warned.

Rudy Giuliani, the ex-Mayor of New York, warned Iran is the countrys biggest fear right now.

Speaking after a conference in Paris earlier this month, he said the nation poses a greater threat than both Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin.

Mr Giuliani was attending a rally in Paris organised by the Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which is the largest and most active opposition movement to the regime.

The Paris-based group supports a totally secular political system in the hardline Islamic country.

GETTY

Since 2008, photographer Eric Lafforgue ventured to North Korea six times. Thanks to digital memory cards, he was able to save photos that was forbidden to take inside the segregated state

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Taking pictures in the DMZ is easy, but if you come too close to the soldiers, they stop you

Mr Giuliani said: Iran is our biggest enemy, Iran is our fiercest enemy. It is the greatest danger to freedom in the world.

Our long term danger is Iran.

Iran [is] a bigger threat than North Korea, it is expanding into an empire. North Korea is contained.

They have more technological capability and they have what is truly an insane regime.

In North Korea, were not sure about Kim Jong-un and we do have the hope that China can contain him.

As tension between the US and Iran mounts, with President Donald Trump rattling his sabres ever louder, Iranians take to the street to protest.

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Iranian people burn an effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran is our biggest enemy, Iran is our fiercest enemy. It is the greatest danger to freedom in the world

Tensions between the US and North Korea are at an all time high.

The secretive state has repeatedly threatened to blast the US with nuclear weapons, with supreme leader Kim even saying it would be a "piece of cake" to drop a nuke on the country.

But Mr Giuliani,who was Mayor of New York at the time of the September 11 terror attacks, warned the Iranian regimes downfall cant be brought about via military action.

He said it would happen through a civilian revolution within the Middle Eastern superpower, which the United States can only help bring about through economic sanctions.

The [regime change] needs to happen from within. How did the regime change in the Soviet Union or Poland or in the Czech Republic? No army came in.

"The people finally rose up and they were just too much for the military to contain, he explained.

Kim Jong-un used the annual "Day of the Sun" parade in Pyongyang to make a chilling display of the country's burgeoning nuclear power and military might

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Military vehicles carrying missiles believed to be North Korean KN-08 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

His comments come as the PMOI again accused the international community of ignoring the global threat posed by Iran.

Last year, Europe and the United States, under President Barack Obama, lifted sanctions including oil and financial penalties placed on the country over its expanding nuclear programme.

They also unfroze approximately $100billion of its assets after inspectors said crucial parts of its nuclear capabilities had been dismantled something the PMOI claims is a lie.

Urging the reintroduction of sanctions, Mr Giuliani said the US has the power to tighten the noose around the regime.

He said that because three-quarters of substantial global trade is done via American banks, Iran could be squeezed financially to such an extent it would spark major unrest in the country.

Read more here:
'This country is WORSE than North Korea' Rudy Giuliani says US fears new 'biggest enemy' - Daily Star

Political Ascendancy

When a group of Qatari falcon hunters, including members of the royal family, were kidnapped in 2015 while on safari in the southern deserts of Iraq, Qatar called Iran and its militia allies not the central government in Baghdad.

For Mr. Abadi, the prime minister, the episode was an embarrassing demonstration of his governments weakness at the hands of Iran, whose proxy militia Kataibb Hezbollah was believed to be behind the kidnapping.

So when the hostage negotiations were about to end, Mr. Abadi pushed back.

Around noon on a day in April, a government jet from Qatar landed in Baghdad, carrying a delegation of diplomats and 500 million euros stuffed into 23 black boxes.

The hunters were soon on their way home, but the ransom did not go to the Iranian-backed militiamen who had abducted the Qataris; the cash ended up in a central bank vault in Baghdad.

The seizure of the money had been ordered by Mr. Abadi, who was furious at the prospect of militias, and their Iranian and Hezbollah benefactors, being paid so richly right under the Iraqi governments nose.

Hundreds of millions to armed groups? Mr. Abadi said in a public rant. Is this acceptable?

In Iraq, the kidnapping episode was seen as a violation of the countrys sovereignty and emblematic of Irans suffocating power over the Iraqi state.

In a post on Twitter, Mr. Zebari, the former finance minister, who was previously foreign minister, called the episode a travesty.

Mr. Zebari knows firsthand the power of Iran over the Iraqi state.

Last year, he said, he was ousted as finance minister because Iran perceived him as being too close to the United States. The account was verified by a member of Parliament who was involved in the removal of Mr. Zebari, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Iran.

Mr. Zebari, who recounted the events in an interview from his mountainside mansion in northern Iraq, said that when President Barack Obama met with Mr. Abadi last September at the United Nations, the American leader personally lobbied to save Mr. Zebaris job. Even that was not enough.

Mr. Abadi now finds himself in a difficult position. If he makes any move that can be seen as confrontational toward Iran, or as positioning himself closer to the United States, it could place a cloud over his political future.

He had two options: to be with the Americans or with the Iranians, said Izzat Shahbander, a prominent Iraqi Shiite leader who once lived in exile in Iran while Mr. Hussein was in power. And he chose to be with the Americans.

Mr. Abadi, who took office in 2014 with the support of both the United States and Iran, has seemed more emboldened to push back against Iranian pressure since President Trump took office.

In addition to seizing the ransom money, he has promoted an ambitious project for an American company to secure the highway from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, which Iran has opposed. He has also begun discussing with the United States the terms of a deal to keep American forces behind after the Islamic State is defeated.

Some are seeing an American troop commitment as a chance to revisit the 2011 withdrawal of United States forces that seemingly opened a door for Iran.

When American officials in Iraq began the slow wind-down of the military mission there, in 2009, some diplomats in Baghdad were cautiously celebrating one achievement: Iran seemed to be on its heels, its influence in the country waning.

Over the last year, Iran has lost the strategic initiative in Iraq, one diplomat wrote in a cable, later released by WikiLeaks.

But other cables sent warnings back to Washington that were frequently voiced by Iraqi officials they spoke to: that if the Americans left, then Iran would fill the vacuum.

Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador in Iraq from 2007 to 2009, said that if the United States left again after the Islamic State was defeated, it would be effectively just giving the Iranians a free rein.

But many Iraqis say the Iranians already have free rein. And while the Trump administration has indicated that it will pay closer attention to Iraq as a means to counter Iran, the question is whether it is too late.

Iran is not going to sit silent and do nothing, said Sami al-Askari, a senior Shiite politician who has good relationships with both the Iranians and Americans. They have many means. Frankly, the Americans cant do anything.

Falih Hassan and Omar al-Jawoshy contributed reporting from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times from Diyala Province, Hilla and Najaf.

Read the original post:
Iran Dominates in Iraq After US 'Handed the Country Over' - New York Times

WASHINGTON

A senior adviser to Irans Supreme Leader has described Iraqs liberation of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) as a victory for Tehran.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told reporters, Liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul from the hands of IS marks a triumph for Iran as well as for Iraq.

Majid Rafizadeh, a political scientist at Harvard University, said the victory by Iraqi forces helped Tehran tip the regional balance of power against its Sunni-dominated rivals such as Saudi Arabia.

The emergence of IS characteristically paved the road for Tehran to pursue its geopolitical, financial and strategic ambitions beyond its borders and helped Iranians to establish their manifestation through networks of affiliated proxy groups, Rafizadeh added.

Tensions between Iran and longtime rival Saudi Arabia have escalated in recent weeks, since the Saudis and their Persian Gulf partners cut ties to Qatar, citing, in part, Qatars association with Iran and Tehrans alleged link to terrorism.

Irans role

Two days after Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed victory in Mosul over Islamic State, the commander of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, detailed the role IRGC played in leading Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in their fight against Islamic State.

We didnt limit ourselves to sharing advice to our Iraqi brothers, but we extended our support by giving them the key to our ammunition depot and backed their operations with IRGC Sukhoi squadron, Soleimani said.

The exact number of PMF troops is unclear, but its estimated to be between 100,000 and 120,000.

Iraqs parliament approved the integration of PMF as an official wing of Iraqis security forces in November 2016, a move that has increased Tehrans role in Iraqs security and military sectors.

Iranian officials have rejected the notion that Tehrans support of the PMF and other Iraqi military sectors is aimed at increasing its regional clout. But a recent speech by Soleimani appeared to contradict those statements.

Iraqs national army is on its way to internalize [Shiite] ideology, Soleimani said. We have also helped in the procedure of purifying the Iraqi army from Baathi elements and it is moving toward becoming a Hezbollah-like army.

Iranian influence

Some analysts believe Soleimanis comment reveals some aspects of Tehrans outreach to boost its influence in Iraq institutionally.

Tehran has deeply penetrated into security and military sectors of Iraq, Rasool Nafisi, a Virginia-based Middle East expert, said. Many of the Iraqi officials have pledged allegiance to Irans leader and see themselves committed to Tehran.

Iran may use its influence in Iraqi institutions not only to promote its regional ambition of confronting the Sunni powers, but in possibly challenging Washington, some analysts believe.

US in the region

U.S. President Donald Trump has portrayed Iranian influence as a global threat on par with IS and al-Qaida. In reaction to ISs twin attacks in Tehran last month, Trump implied that the Iranian government was ultimately to blame.

We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote, he said in a White House statement.

In recent comments, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said regime change will be necessary before the U.S. and Iran can have substantially positive relations.

In response, the deputy chief of staff of Irans armed forces, Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri, said Friday that Iran is determined to drive all foreign troops out of the region. Americans are not welcome here and must leave immediately.

Analysts warn some PMF groups may turn against the U.S. forces if tensions arise between Washington and Tehran.

If there is a perception that the U.S. will keep its military presence in Iraq and will have a mission more than just training the Iraqi security forces, then that will increase the incentive for the Shiite militias to more directly apply pressure on the United States to leave, said Sarhang Hamasaeed, director of Middle East Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington.

U.S. officials said there wont be a hasty withdrawal of more than 9,000 U.S. and coalition forces after Mosuls liberation. And one aim is to stabilize the region outside Mosul, where more than 25,000 Iraqi troops, including paramilitary forces made up of Sunni tribal fighters and Shiite militiamen, have been clearing IS from villages.

Washington and Tehran look at the regional stabilization through different lenses, Harvard political scientist Rafizadeh said.

Read the original:
Analysts: Tehran Sees Liberation of Mosul as Victory for Iraq and Iran - Voice of America

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan quietly helped Iraq in its fight against the militant Islamic State (IS) group, which reached a major milestone this week with the liberation of Mosul from the terrorist groups control after three years of occupation.

Pakistan was among a number of countries that supported Iraq in fighting the IS, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, said Ambassador of Iraq Ali Yasin Muhammad Karim at a press conference at the embassy. The presser was held to brief Pakistani media about the eviction of the IS from Mosul.

Pakistans contribution to the fight against the IS in Iraq has never been mentioned earlier either by Pakistani officials or Iraqis.

Ancient Assyrian town Mosul, which is Iraqs second largest city and was used by the IS during years of occupation as the seat of its proclaimed caliphate, was freed after a gruelling nine-month-long military campaign by Iraqi security forces that was backed by several countries.

Talking about Pakistans help, the ambassador said Iraq, besides getting intelligence on terrorists, also received arms and ammunition and military medical assistance from the country. He recalled some of the Iraqi pilots, who took part in action against the IS, had been trained in Pakistan.

The ambassador said the continuing intelligence cooperation between Iraq and Pakistan could help the latter deal with the expanding footprint of the IS in the region.

Underscoring the IS threat, he said, the outfit was the most dangerous terrorist group and likened its threat to time bombs and booby traps.

We share the same enemy, Mr Karim said.

While responding to a question, the envoy played down involvement of Pakistanis with IS activities in Iraq, saying that the bad guys represented a very small proportion of the population of Pakistan. People of over 100 nationalities, he added, were part of IS ranks.

The people of Pakistan were generally very supportive of Iraq in its war against the IS, he remarked.

He praised Pakistans policy of neutrality towards the Middle East.

After Mosul, Ambassador Karim said, Iraq was about to make a final push against the IS from its territory.

Mosuls liberation has, however, come at a huge cost.

The city after remaining under the IS occupation for three years during the fight for its liberation is in complete ruins and almost a million of its population has been displaced. The same is the case with other areas that Iraq has succeeded in liberating from the IS. Reports from Mosul warn of an emerging humanitarian crisis.

The Iraqi ambassador called for support for reconstruction and restoration of services in the cities devastated by the war.

We need help for rebuilding infrastructure, which is the next important task, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017

Link:
Pakistan helped Iraq in defeating IS, says Iraqi envoy - DAWN.com

The bombed-out library in Mosul, Iraq. A book drive organized by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students designed to help rebuild the library in Iraq yielded several thousand books. (ERAU/Courtesy)

In June, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys Prescott Campus shipped over 200 boxes of donated books overseas to Mosul, Iraq, in a volunteer effort to help replenish what was lost when ISIS ransacked the Mosul Central Library in February of 2015.

After the destruction of what was believed to be over 100,000 books and manuscripts, Iraqi newspapers, maps and collected works from the Ottoman period, a world-wide call for aid was heard by ERAUs Honors Program and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

When the book drive began, I notified [our contacts] in Mosul that I was confident we could get a few hundred books, said recent graduate of Global Security & Intelligence, James Gulliksen. I had no clue Embry-Riddle and the surrounding Prescott community would garner up several thousand. Our final shipment was about 6,200 books in 10 different languages

As a student of Global Security & Intelligence, Gulliksen had been monitoring the advance and decline of the Islamic State organization in Iraq and Syria until late 2016, when Iraqi forces, supported by the US-led coalition, began the liberation of Mosul from Islamic State control. Mosul Eyea blog in Mosul devoted to reporting on life before and after Islamic State rulesuggested the idea of a book drive to its readers, inspiring Gulliksen to reach out to student leadership of the Honors Program and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society in hopes that they too would agree to support the library rebuilding efforts.

The idea of providing a massive collection of books to a community that has had their right to learn violently removed is an idea that embodies all of the best in the ERAU Honors Program, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and Embry-Riddle as a whole, Gulliksen said. In a community where civilians feel the scourge of violence, malnourishment, and torture, the notion of rebuilding a library is at the core of Phi Kappa Phis motto: Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity.

The library rebuild consists of both recovering what books could be found in the library wreckage, and retrieving books from around the worldincluding over four tons from Prescott.

The organization and management of a book drive of this scale led Gulliksen and his team to encounter the practical obstacle of how to store and ship over 6,000 books.

The librarys staff, Undergraduate Research Institute (URI), and Dr. Kelly OBrien in Study Abroad were all extremely gracious with their work space and allowed us to store books before they could be sent, Gulliksen said. Also, establishing the logistics of sending such a large shipment was a huge hurdle.

Embry-Riddle Honor students, as well as students who are accepted into the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society, are encouraged to seek out volunteer opportunities which will put the students interests, education and world view toward giving aid to a cause. For Gulliksen, understanding the need and answering Mosuls call was not just to supply their library with books; it was to help the liberated city heal its community.

A library is more than only books, said Gulliksen. I think the research is clear that people become radicalized due to several underlying causes, including illiteracy, broken social relationships, and a lost sense of community. In a city like Mosul, a library is a tool to solve all of those problems.

Information provided by Keaton Ziem with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

See original here:
From Prescott to Mosul: Book drive aids library rebuilding efforts in Iraq - The Daily Courier