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Netanyahu contemplating layover in Europe amid fears of arrest warrant over Gaza war

By
IFP Media Wire
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Benjamin Netanyahu

Kan News reported on Wednesday that the prime minister’s plane, dubbed the “Wing of Zion”, may be unable to fly directly to the US due to a lack of preparedness.

Netanyahu’s office has been evaluating the feasibility of such a layover in Europe, given that the ICC is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Gallant and Netanyahu face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the starvation of civilians in Gaza as a method of war, wilfully causing great suffering, wilful killing, intentional attacks on a civilian population and extermination, among other charges.

No warrants have been issued yet. The ICC prosecution has submitted an application, which is currently under consideration by ICC judges in the pre-trial chamber.

The prosecutor also seeks the arrest of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, its military wing’s commander-in-chief Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, better known as Mohammed Deif, and its political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The ICC has jurisdiction over nationals of its 124 member states and crimes committed within their territories. It also has jurisdiction over cases referred to by a UN Security Council resolution.

Israel is not a member of the ICC. However, the state of Palestine was granted membership in 2015. The court can, therefore, investigate Israeli individuals for crimes committed in occupied Palestine, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Although the US is not a member of the court, the UK, France and several of Israel’s western allies are ICC members.

Should the pre-trial chamber approve the arrest warrant, ICC member states, as signatories of the Rome Statute, would be obliged to arrest the indicted individuals.

“Member states have a legal obligation to cooperate fully with the court, which includes arresting those subject to an arrest warrant,” Eitan Diamond of the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Jerusalem told MEE in May.

“Israel and the Israeli officials concerned would not want to take the risk that states would discharge their obligation.”

As the arrest warrant has not yet been approved, the legality of Netanyahu’s travel to and from member states remains unclear.

Historically, the ICC pre-trial judges have approved the prosecutor’s applications in nearly all previous cases of arrest warrants.

Travel restrictions are a reality that Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced since he and another senior official were indicted by the ICC in March last year for their roles in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

In December, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested that Putin could face arrest if he attended the G20 summit in Rio later this year.

Member states have previously flouted that obligation: South Africa and Jordan failed to arrest indicted former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir during visits to their respective countries, drawing criticism from human rights groups and the ICC itself.

The Guardian reported on Monday that the new Labour government is expected to drop a UK attempt to delay the ICC’s decision on Netanyahu’s arrest warrant.

Iraq sentences wife of Abu Bakr Baghdadi to death for crimes against Yazidi women

By
IFP Media Wire
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Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi

The ruling comes weeks before the 10-year mark since IS launched a series of attacks against the Yazidi religious minority in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar in early August 2014, killing and capturing thousands — including women and girls who were subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse.

The United Nations announced the campaign against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.

A statement by Iraq’s judicial council said the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced the woman for “detaining Yazidi women in her home” and facilitating their kidnapping by “the terrorist IS gangs in Sinjar district”. It also added the ruling was issued in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and its “Yazidi survivors law”.

The statement did not name the defendant, but two court officials identified her as Asma Mohammed, who was arrested in 2018 in Turkey.

Survivors of the IS attacks in Iraq have complained of a lack of accountability and have criticized the decision — made at the request of the Iraqi government — to wind down a U.N. probe into IS crimes, including the alleged use of chemical weapons.

At the same time, human rights groups have raised concerns about the lack of due process in trials of alleged IS members in Iraq and have particularly criticized mass executions of those convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have stressed the convictions are often extracted under torture and urged Iraq to abolish the death penalty.

On June 29, 2014, al-Baghdadi, known as one of the most ruthlessly effective militant leaders of modern times, declared the militant group’s caliphate in large swaths of Iraq and Syria. In 2019, he was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria, dealing a major blow to the militant group which has now lost its hold on all the areas it previously controlled though some of its cells continue to carry out attacks.

Temperature crosses 54° Celsius in Shabankareh, southern Iran  

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran's rising temperatures

Sadegh Ziaian the head of the National Weather Forecasting Center of Iran’s National Meteorological Organization says Ahvaz with 48.7° and Qom with 43.4° were the hottest and Shahrekord with 10° and Ardabil with 15° were the coolest provincial capitals of Iran during that period.

Ziaian added that on Thursday, the temperature in capital Tehran will rise to 39° Celsius.

He said the temperature will decrease in most regions across Iran, adding however that a large number of stations in Khuzestan Province will record temperatures above 50° on Thursday.

Most Iranian cities are struggling with unprecedented heat this year, which has increased electricity consumption and prompted warnings from authorities.

Iranian oil minister: Oil output raised to 3.6mn. bpd

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran Oil

Owji made the announcement on the sidelines of the Wednesday session of the cabinet.

He added that the administration’s goal was to produce 4 million barrels per day prior to the end of the Persian Year of 1403, that is by March 20, 2025.

Owji called oil production as one of the ways of preventing budget deficit and increasing the government’s revenue sources.

The oil minister added that the liquid hydrocarbon reserves of Iran now stand at more than 153 billion barrels, and the more Iran can increase the oil output and upgrade its refinery capacity, the more foreign exchange revenues it will make.

Owji said there are tens of thousands of elite experts in the Iranian Oil Ministry, whose abilities are being used and “we hope that this progress will continue”.

Referring to the summer season and the rising number of trips countrywide as well as the arrangements that the Oil Ministry is considering for gasoline reserves, Owji noted that officials at the ministry employed cost-effective methods for the gasoline issue and managed gasoline consumption.

Iranian official says Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran to reopen soon

By
IFP Media Wire
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Azerbaijan Embassy Tehran

Damirchiloo stated on Tuesday that Azerbaijan’s embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Iran will be reopened in a few days, within the next 15 to 20 days, and the ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan will return to Tehran.

Azerbaijan’s relations with Iran were strained in January last year following an attack on the country’s embassy in Tehran, which prompted Baku to close it and evacuate staff over what it called a “terrorist act”.

An initial Iranian investigation found that the attack was motivated by “personal and family-related problems”.

Syria passenger plane touches down at Saudi airport after over a decade hiatus

By
IFP Media Wire
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Syrian Airline

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the airliner arrived at King Khalid International Airport on Wednesday, marking the resumption of regular commercial flights between the Syrian capital of Damascus and Saudi Arabia.

Syrian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ayman Soussan, stated the resumption of flights was “an additional step in the process of development in relations between the two brotherly countries”.

On Monday, Syria’s Ministry of Transport announced in a statement that Syrian Airlines had carried out 97 flights to Saudi Arabia this year for the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage.

It noted that the airline carried 11,000 Syrian pilgrims on direct flights from Damascus to Jeddah and back from Medina to the Syrian capital.

Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Damascus and withdrew all diplomats in March 2012.

Back in May 2023, the two countries agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies.

In the same month, the Arab League, a 22-member intergovernmental organization of Arab states, agreed to welcome Syria back into the fold with immediate effect after more than a decade.

Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests.

Iranian MP says Pezeshkian to be sworn in late July

By
IFP Media Wire
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Massoud Pezeshkian

A member of the Iranian Parliament’s presiding board told Tasnim on Wednesday that the swearing-in ceremony for President-elect Pezeshkian will be held on Tuesday, July 30.

The swearing-in ceremony will be attended by the head of the Supreme Court of Iran, the members of the Constitutional Council, the Judiciary chief, and other top political and military officials, Mojtaba Yousefi added.

He said the parliamentary law stipulates that the new president should present his plans and introduce his ministers within two weeks after inauguration.

The lawmakers will then discuss the credentials of the proposed ministers for a week before holding a final session on the votes of confidence, he noted.

Pezeshkian was elected to the Parliament as a representative of the northwestern city of Tabriz in the parliamentary elections on March 1.

After the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, Pezeshkian became one of six final candidates singled out by the Constitutional Council from 80 applicants seeking the presidency.

He won the highest number of votes in the first round of the presidential election on June 28 and faced off the runner-up, Saeed Jalili, in the runoff election on July 5.

The physician-turned-politician won the runoff by garnering 53.66% of the votes.

His new administration, the 14th one after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, will hold office for four years.

Zelensky says Ukraine can ‘never’ get enough weapons

By
IFP Media Wire
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Volodymyr Zelensky

The Ukrainian leader is visiting the US this week as the heads of NATO states hold a summit in Washington DC. Zelensky called for more arms deliveries at the Ronald Reagan Institute on Tuesday, where he participated in an event alongside US Senator Mitch McConnell.

While he highlighted his determination to continue hostilities with Russia, he stressed on several occasions the disparity in military strength between the two sides in the conflict.

”It’s not enough. It’s never enough,” he said, referring to the five additional Patriot missile systems, which US President Joe Biden pledged the same day to Kiev on behalf of his nation, Germany, Romania and others.

Asked about the fate of the 31 Abrams main battle tanks supplied by the US last year, Zelensky stated the number was too low to “change the situation on the battlefield”.

He went on to say the number of F-16 fighter jets pledged by Western donors has been insufficient. Russia uses some 300 jets in the Ukraine conflict, while Kiev would only be able to field 10 to 20 F-16s anytime soon, he said.

”Even if we will have 50 it’s nothing. They have 300,” Zelensky added. Being on the defense, Ukraine would need a fleet of 128 F-16s for parity with Russia, he stated.

Zelensky urged the US to lift all restrictions on using American-provided weapons against targets deep inside Russia and to provide Kiev with better long-range strike capability. In late May, the Biden administration revised its policy restricting the use of American weapons inside what the US recognizes as Russian territory, but would not allow long-range strikes, according to media reports and statements by officials.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country may supply weapons similar to those that Ukraine gets from the West to parties hostile to the donors elsewhere in the world in case of further escalation.

Moscow has described the Ukraine conflict as part of a US-led proxy war against Russia, in which NATO members take part in virtually every aspect except by sending their own troops to the battlefield.

Iran ex-FM Zarif: New cabinet opening up space for young experts

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Javad Zarif

In a meeting with members of the Iranian Entrepreneurs Association on Tuesday, Zarif said, “We are planning to form a young government, and people like me, who have had posts many times, are not supposed to get a position again in this administration.”

The former foreign minister, whose name is associated with the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear accord with the West, dismissed reports that he would serve as the vice president in the upcoming cabinet.

“Based on the decisions aimed at rejuvenating the administration, 60 percent of the ministers will be first-timers under 50 years old,” he revealed.

Pezeshkian won the snap presidential election on a platform of improving the ailing economy and making efforts to get the country released from the yoke of harsh US-led sanctions, among other campaign promises.

“Unfortunately, there are people in this country who have interests and do not allow us to change the status quo.” Zarif said without mentioning any name and added, “We have no choice but to confront with the interests of those people.”

As a case in point, he referred to the high commercial transit cost in Iran, saying they devour over a third of the country’s economy due to the sanctions regime.

He said, “Last year, Iran’s trade volume, including oil and non-oil products, was about 153 billion dollars, and with this account, we had to bear an imposed cost of 50 billion dollars.”

Further highlighting the repercussions of the Western punitive measures against Iran, Zarif said the new government needs to garner popular support at home in order to be able to ease the draconian sanctions and comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) money-laundering watchdog as initial steps to join the world economy.

Saudi Arabia ‘threatened’ G7 over seizure of Russian assets

By
IFP Media Wire
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Putin and MbS

The US and UK had been pushing for outright seizure of around $280 billion in Russian sovereign funds, which the West had frozen in 2022 citing the Ukraine conflict. The EU, where most of the immobilized assets are held, was reluctant to see the euro endangered by the possible backlash.

Saudi Arabia “privately hinted” that it might sell some of its EU debt holdings if the G7 went ahead with the confiscation plans, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday citing “people familiar with the matter”.

One of the outlet’s anonymous sources described the Saudi Finance Ministry’s message as “a veiled threat”, while two others said Riyadh specifically mentioned French treasury debt.

This “likely influenced” the G7 to stop short of seizing the frozen Russian funds and opt to turn the interest they generated into loans to Kiev. Moscow has condemned the move as illegal, with former President Dmitry Medvedev suggesting it could be interpreted as a cause for war.

When reached for comment, however, the Saudi Finance Ministry told Bloomberg that “no such threats were made”.

“Our relation with the G7 and others is of mutual respect and we continue to discuss all issues that promote global growth and enhance the resilience of the international financial system,” the ministry said.

One Saudi official told the outlet that making such threats wasn’t his government’s “style” and that the ministry might have merely outlined the “eventual consequences” of seizures to the G7.

Saudi Arabia owns about $135 billion of US Treasuries and an unspecified amount of euro bonds. EU officials were less concerned about the impact on French debt than about other countries following Riyadh’s lead, Bloomberg’s sources added.

Two of the sources questioned the credibility of Saudi Arabia’s alleged threat, noting that there wasn’t a run on G7 currencies when the Russian funds were first frozen. The same argument was brought up by Daleep Singh, the White House’s deputy national security adviser, at a conference in May.

The February 2022 freezing of Russian sovereign assets was a move without precedent. A number of experts in the West have cautioned against attempting to confiscate the funds, noting that this could undermine the dollar, the euro, and the entire global financial system.

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