Mediaboss Marketing

Last week, King Abdullah II of Jordan said he would support the creation of a military alliance similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The king pointed to the current challenges Middle Eastern countries are facing to emphasize the need for a joint effort.

Calls for an Alliance Like NATO in Middle East?

In addition to outlining how Moscows invasion of Ukraine is impacting the region, King Abdullah discussed Irans destabilizing behavior and the Israel-Palestine crisis to outline the need for a unified front. His remarks follow Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantzs announcement that Israel has joined a U.S.-led joint air defense network dubbed the Middle East Air Defense Alliance (MEAD).

In an interview with CNBC, the Jordanian monarch said he would be one of the first people who would endorse a Middle East version of the largest intergovernmental military alliance that exists today. The king insisted that a period of cooperation must replace the near-constant strife that has plagued the region for many years.

Additionally, Russias invasion of Ukraine has endangered food supplies in the region. Ukraine is one of the worlds largest exporters of wheat and corn. Since Russia has imposed blockades on the countrys ports, the movement of these resources has been stagnant. Earlier this month, Jordan unveiled a ten-year-long development strategy aimed at reviving the countrys struggling economy. Regional conflict has certainly impacted Jordans slow economic growth, making a cooperative truce even more vital to the king.

Referencing the Israel-Palestinian conflict, King Abdullah indicated only time will tell if countries in the region could work toward a vision where prosperity is the name of the game.

Irans Destabilizing Behavior

The king then suggested that the Islamic Republic of Irans role in the region had become problematic. Although Irans regime was not called out directly in his remarks, Abdullah referenced the role Shiite militias continue to play in the Middle East. He expressed that Irans hostile actions along with its ongoing nuclear program are raising fears everywhere in the region and has transferred Iran into a common enemy or adversary to many Arab and non-Arab countries in the Middle East.

Irans proxy warfare has escalated in recent years. Across the region, Iranian-backed groups function to support the regime, destabilizing the countries they operate in. Iran is also in the process of rapidly expanding its ballistic missile arsenal, posing a critical threat to its nearby adversaries.

Due to Irans malign behavior in recent years, U.S. allies in the Middle East have rekindled cooperative efforts. In 2020, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Egypt signed the Al-Ula Declaration. This joint agreement ended a rift that divided the Gulf states for nearly three years. In part, the solidarity pact aims to counter an increasingly dangerous Iran. Additionally, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan formalized normalization ties with Israel through the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords the same year. The MEAD joint air-defense network described by Israels Defense Minister would likely piggyback off the relationships strengthened by the Al-Ula Declaration and the Abraham Accords.

While the formation of a Middle East NATO may not be as imminent as desired by King Abdullah, alliances in the region are shifting. Iran has become increasingly isolated from its neighbors as Israel has been more warmly received.

Maya Carlin is a Middle East Defense Editor with 19FortyFive. She is also an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel.

Read more:
Iran Would Hate This: A NATO for the Middle East - 19FortyFive

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was scheduled to be received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara today, part of an effort to manage growing tensions between the prickly regional rivals.

Upon his arrival, Amir-Abdollahian said he would be discussing comprehensive long-term cooperation between Iran and Turkey with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and Erdogan.

The Iranian diplomat'smeeting with the Turkish president had not ended as of time of publication.

The visit comes just days after Israels Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was in Turkey, where he thanked Turkish leaders for foiling an alleged Iranian assassination plot against its citizens in Istanbul. Turkey detained eight members of an alleged Iranian thought to be conspiring to murder Israeli tourists and a former Israeli ambassador in apparent retaliation for ongoing killings of high-value Iranian targets by the Jewish state. Iran denied the allegations, saying they were baseless.

"We consider the fake Israeli regime the number-one enemy of Muslims and the Islamic world, Amir-Abdollahian said in a joint news conference with Cavusoglu.

Israel warned its citizens to avoid traveling to Turkey following the assassination in late May of Col. Hassan Sayad Khodayari in Tehran. Khodayari, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, was supposedly involved in the killings of Jews and Israelis across the globe.

Turkeys open-door policy with Iran, under which citizens from both sides can travel to the other without visas, provides easier logistics for Iranian plans to target Israeli tourists, noted Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at Tel Aviv Universitys Institute for National Security Studies. The policy is unlikely to change.

In any case friction over Israel, which has deepened as Turkey mends fences with the Jewish state, has taken a back seat to Irans other big concerns,observers say. Syria and Iraq are at the top of the list, contended Hamidreza Azizi, a CATS fellow at the German Institute for International and Security affairs who focuses on Irans relations with Turkey. Iran is deeply worried about the prospect of a new Turkish military operation, especially if its going to involve Tel Rifaat, Azizi told Al-Monitor. He was referring to the Syrian town south of Aleppo that is close to the Shiite-majority town of Nubl and Al-Zahra that could also act as a gateway allowing Turkey and its Sunni rebel allies to expand their influence around Aleppo. The prospect is of equal concern to the Syrian regime and its main patron, Russia.

From Irans point of view, this could be a prelude to the further expansion of the influence of Turkey toward central Syria, enabling it to limit Irans influence and create a new headache for the Syrian regime, Azizi added. Erdogan renewed vows to conduct another military operation against the Syrian Kurds today. "As soon as we finish our preparations for the completionof a security belt along our border with Syria we will start a new operation there," Erdogan after meeting with members of his cabinet.The Iranian minister suggested that his government may be on board, despite Iran's well known misgivings. "We understand that maybe a special operation might be needed. Turkey's security concerns must be tackled fully and permanently," Abdollahian said.

Irans other concern is Iraq, where Turkey is trying to limit Irans influence in the Iraqi political sphere by facilitating the formation of a unified front composed of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the countrys main Sunni faction.

At the same time, the escalation in Turkeys military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan has raised concerns among Iran and its affiliated Shiite groups that Turkey may seek to establish a permanent sphere of influence in northern parts of Iraq. Those worries were sharpened by KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzanis comments earlier this year about selling Iraqi Kurdish gas to Europe via Turkey to offset supply deficits stemming from sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Its hardly a coincidence that the Khor Mor gas field in Iraqi Kurdistans Sulaimaniyah province was attacked multiple times last week. The KRG Security Council said the attacks came from Kirkuk and had been directed by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Turkey is the KRGs closest regional ally and top economic partner.

In March, Iranian cruise missiles struck the residence of Sheikh Baz Karim Barznji, CEO of the Kurdish oil company Kar Group, which exports Iraqi Kurdish crude via a pipeline to Turkey. Iran said the attack targeted Israeli interests in Iraq, but the message was almost certainly intended for Barzani. The Iraqi Kurdish leader announced Sunday that reinforcements had been sent to Khor Mor and that he had spoken to White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadimi.

"The cowards behind the attacks have resorted to terror tactics because they have lost the court of public opinion in the rest of the country. Rather than focus on the future and economic integration to lift all of the country, lawless groups have resorted to rocket attacks on our villages and civilians," the Kurdish premier said in a statement.

Why does Iran, a top producer of oil and natural gas, feel so threatened?

Iraq burns its own gas and buys Iranian gas above the market price, so whatever the Iraqi government and the KRG does to develop its own gas goes automatically and naturally against what Iran is doing, which is deepening that dependency that Iraq has developed for Iranian gas and Iranian electricity, explained Bilal Wahab, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. If the KRG were to sell its gas and not use it for domestic consumption it would be selling it to and through Turkey. If the KRG thereby contributes to Turkey becoming an energy hub for Europe, that goes against what Iran is trying to do.

But on a wider regional scale, what worries Iran the most is that Turkey has been improving its relations with Irans rivals, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, said Azizi, the Iranian analyst.

Last week Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Erdogan in Ankara,ending almost four years of hostility that erupted over the Saudi royals role in the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

This dual-track rapprochement, along with the aforementioned factors specific to Iraq and Syria, has created the perception in Iran that a regional front might be in the making with the participation of Turkey, Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf with the primary aim of confronting Iran, Azizi said.

Read more:
Iran's foreign minister checks in with Ankara as Turkey courts Tehran's foes - Al-Monitor

An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Register

SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany, June 27 (Reuters) - The international community should explore all options to alleviate a Russian squeeze of energy supplies that has spiked prices, including talks with producing nations like Iran and Venezuela, a French presidency official said on Monday.

Venezuela has been under U.S. oil sanctions since 2019, and could reroute crude if those restrictions were lifted.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive a nuclear deal that could see sanctions on Tehran lifted and its oil exports resume have been on hold since March, but are due to resume in Doha soon. read more

Register

"There are resources elsewhere that need to be explored," a French official said on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Germany, when asked about how to alleviate high oil prices.

The outstanding issue between Iran and the United States was no longer linked to the nuclear dossier but to U.S. terrorism sanctions, he said.

"So there is a knot that needs to be untied if applicable... to get Iranian oil back on the market," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We have Venezuelan oil that also needs to come back to the market."

A second official said all options need to be explored given the stakes, including those involving Iran and Venezuela.

The first official called for a temporary increase in production from oil-producing nations, and said there would be an effort to try and convince them to do so.

France wants a planned mechanism to cap the price of oil to be as broad as possible and not be limited to Russian output, which the official said could lack efficiency given supply and demand dynamics.

"We want to consolidate the position of buyers so that we can be in a better position facing Russia. So we need to diversify supplies and have an outreach to producing countries," the French official said.

"We want producing countries to produce more temporarily to get over the peak of the crisis."

The official said that outreach would start with U.S. President Joe Biden's trip in July to the oil-producing Gulf.

French President Emmanuel Macron was caught by Reuters TV rushing to tell Biden that he had spoken to United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MbZ), who had told him that the UAE and Saudi Arabia could barely increase oil production. read more

"I had a call with MbZ," Macron was seen telling Biden after interrupting a conversation between the U.S. leader and his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of the G7.

"He told me two things. I'm at a maximum, maximum (production capacity). This is what he claims ... and then he said (the) Saudis can increase by 150 (thousands barrels per day).

"Maybe a little bit more, but they don't have huge capacities before six months' time," Macron said before being asked to continue discussions indoors away from cameras.

Register

Reporting by John Irish and Reuters TV; Editing by Jan Harvey and Chizu Nomiyama

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Originally posted here:
Powers need to study all oil options, including Iran, Venezuela -France - Reuters

The government in Iran is intensifying social restrictions, including closing cafs and detaining women for improper hijab, reports on social media indicate.

Latest news received from the southern historic city of Shiraz say that security forces and morality police shut down several cafs and are pressuring others to strictly enforce hijab rules. The same process is taking place in other cities, including Tehran.

The hijab or morality police have also expanded patrols in streets, stopping women they believe are not wearing their headscarves properly or for other dress code violations. These law enforcement units are all accompanied by special vans, and they push women into these vehicles for further questioning, admonishment, or arrest.

There have been many recorded incidents in recent months showing women resisting the morality police who use force to push them into their patrol vans. One journalist in Tehran tweeted on Monday that morality police are using new tactics to convince women to enter the vans without making a bigger scene in public. Reportedly, authorities while they have decided to harass citizens are also concerned about a backlash and incidents that could lead to street protests.

A video that went viral on June 23 showed dozens of teenage boys and girls in Shiraz congregating in a park and mingling freely, which is forbidden according to the Islamic rules in the country. Most of the girls had no headscarves and the incident turned into a major issue.

The government immediately announced that the organizers of the gathering were arrested while many ordinary Iranians on social media expressed satisfaction that teenagers defy the religious rules.

One Shiraz resident complained on social media that authorities are taking away what little exists for relaxation and socializations, by closing down cafs.

Another viral video on Sunday [June 26] showed a woman screaming profanities at a cleric who stopped her in a supermarket to admonish her for inadequate hijab. Some on social media commented that clerics do not object to doubling and tripling of prices in a matter of weeks but are upset by hijab infringements.

Young people in Tehran are also complaining about increasing pressure on caf owners not to force clients with loose headscarves to cover their heads properly. There are also reports about taxi drivers telling women to cover themselves properly, out of concern that they would be stopped by the police.

In recent weeks, the economic situation in Iran has deteriorated with prices of daily necessities doubling and tripling almost overnight and protests breaking out around the country.

No one knows if the enforcement of strict religious rules is related to the authorities trying to show force, but some citizens see the effort as a scheme to pit people against one another.

Massoud Jafari, a caf owner twitted that he is constantly harassed by morality police who walk in anytime they want and accuse him of running a business promoting prostitution, insulting him and his customers.

Last week, 120 people touring a nature reserve were arrested and accused of dancing and drinking alcohol.

There is also pressure on female singers who entertain in private wedding parties. One local prosecutor in Hormozgan province on Sunday announced the arrest of four female singers. If these acts continue, both the performers and persons organizing the wedding party will be arrested, he announced.

Read the original post:
Iran Intensifies Social Restrictions, Harassment Of Women For Hijab -

The geopolitical and economic tectonic plates are shifting and something of a tug of war is emerging over what role Iran should play in the new world order. That was plain on June 27 from a series of developments.

France caused a stir when a French presidency official anonymously stuck his neck out to declare to reporters that the international community should explore all options to alleviate Russias squeeze on energy supplies to the West that has driven up prices, including talks with oil producers like Iran and Venezuela.

Both Iran and Venezuela remain under US oil sanctions but would have plenty more oil to offer the world if the sanctions were removed. In Irans case, such a lifting of sanctions might only occur if indirect talks between Iran and the US to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, scheduled to take place in Qatar from June 28 are successful.

Interestingly, there were reports circulating in Israeli and other Middle Eastern press that as part of an easing of sanctions ahead of the Qatari talks on curbing Irans nuclear development programme in return for sanctions lifting, a US-brokered deal allowing Iran to transfer oil to Syria, with Israeli approval, is in the works.

"There are resources elsewhere that need to be explored," the French presidency official, as quoted by Reuters, said on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany, when asked about how to alleviate high oil prices.

The outstanding issue between Iran and the US was no longer linked to the nuclear dossier in negotiations but to US terrorism sanctions, he was reported as saying, referring to Tehrans demand that Washingtons designation of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an entity of the state, as a terrorist organisation be removed.

"So there is a knot that needs to be untied if applicable... to get Iranian oil back on the market," the official was cited as telling reporters. "We have Venezuelan oil that also needs to come back to the market."

As regards Russian leader Vladimir Putins plans to reorientate his countrys trade and investment East and South, June 27 brought a report from Irans Tasnim News Agency that Iran has applied to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping of five major emerging economies. Spokesman for Irans foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, noted that the BRICS member states make up 30% of the worlds economic output and 40% of its population. Irans population is around 85-mn-strong.

As for Irans arch-rival across the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, the Guardian reported that top Israeli and Saudi military officials have met in secret US-brokered talks to discuss defence coordination against Iran, while AlJazeera reported that Tehran was claiming the Saudis were ready for more direct bilateral talks on securing a rapprochement between their two countries.

Khatibzadeh was reported as saying: There are still cases of disagreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but they would need to be resolved between the two countries, something that will help the whole of the Islamic world.

Read more here:
Tug of war emerging over what role Iran (and its oil) should play in new world order - bne IntelliNews