Iran’s Guardian Council allows 6 candidates to seek presidency, bars former president Ahmadinejad

Update Iran’s Guardian Council allows 6 candidates to seek presidency, bars former president Ahmadinejad
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, was not given a go signal in his presidential candidacy. (AFP)
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Updated 09 June 2024
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Iran’s Guardian Council allows 6 candidates to seek presidency, bars former president Ahmadinejad

Iran’s Guardian Council allows 6 candidates to seek presidency, bars former president Ahmadinejad
  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, excluded from list

DUBAI: Iran’s Guardian Council on Sunday approved the country’s hard-line parliament speaker and five others to run in the country’s June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others.

The council again barred former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, from running.

The council’s decision represents the starting gun for a shortened, two-week campaign to replace Raisi, a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor for the 85-year-old cleric.

The selection of candidates approved by the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei, suggests Iran’s Shiite theocracy hopes to ease the election through after recent votes saw record-low turnout and as tensions remain high over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, as well as the Israel-Hamas war.

The Guardian Council also continued its streak of not accepting a woman or anyone calling for radical change to the country’s governance.

The campaign likely will include live, televised debates by the candidates on Iran’s state-run broadcaster. They also advertise on billboards and offer stump speeches to back their bids.

So far, none of them has offered any specifics, though all have promised a better economic situation for the country as it suffers from sanctions by the US and other Western nations over its nuclear program, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Such matters of state remain the final decision of Khamenei, but presidents in the past have leaned either toward engagement or confrontation with the West over it.

The most prominent candidate remains Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, 62, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, many remember that Qalibaf, as a former Guard general, was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief.

Qalibaf ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005 and 2013. He withdrew from the 2017 presidential campaign to support Raisi in his first failed presidential bid. Raisi won the 2021 election, which had the lowest turnout ever for a presidential vote in Iran, after every major opponent found themselves disqualified.

Khamenei gave a speech last week alluding to qualities that Qalibaf’s supporters have highlighted as potentially signaling the supreme leader’s support for the speaker.

Yet Qalibaf’s role in crackdowns may be viewed differently after years of unrest that have gripped Iran, both over its ailing economy and the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of security forces.

The Guardian Council disqualified Ahmadinejad, the firebrand, Holocaust-questioning former president. Ahmadinejad increasingly challenged Khamenei toward the end of his term and is remembered for the bloody crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests. He was also disqualified in the last election by the panel.

The election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over its arming of Russia in that country’s war on Ukraine. Its support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Middle East has been increasingly in the spotlight as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were killed in the May 19 helicopter crash in the far northwest of Iran. Investigations are continuing, though authorities say there’s no immediate sign of foul play in the crash on a cloud-covered mountainside.

Raisi is the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country’s Islamic Revolution.


Yemen’s Houthis will keep blockade on Israeli vessels after asset sale reports

Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
Updated 03 November 2024
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Yemen’s Houthis will keep blockade on Israeli vessels after asset sale reports

Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
  • “Intelligence information confirms many companies operating in maritime shipping affiliated to the Israeli enemy are working to sell their assets”: Spokesperson

CAIRO: Yemen’s Houthis said on Sunday they would maintain their maritime blockade against Israeli vessels in response to “intelligence information” regarding Israeli shipping companies selling their assets to other companies.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have said they are intensifying their attacks to support Hamas and Hezbollah in their resistance against Israeli actions in the region.
“Intelligence information confirms that many companies operating in maritime shipping affiliated to the Israeli enemy are working to sell their assets and transfer their properties from shipping and maritime transport ships to other companies,” said Yahya Sarea, military spokesperson of the group.
The Houthis will not recognize any changes of ownership and warned against any collaboration with these companies, Sarea said in a televised address.
Sarea also said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel and would target any ships belonging to, linked to, or heading to Israel.
He said the blockade would continue until “the aggression stops and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted and the aggression on Lebanon stops.”


Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel

Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel
Updated 03 November 2024
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Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel

Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel
  • Since the strikes last month, Israel has warned Iran against retaliating
  • Supreme Leader said the Islamic republic would retaliate

TEHRAN: Iran’s president said Sunday a potential ceasefire between its allies and Israel “could affect the intensity” of Tehran’s response to Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian military sites.
“If they (the Israelis) reconsider their behavior, accept a ceasefire and stop massacring the oppressed and innocent people of the region, it could affect the intensity and type of our response,” Masoud Pezeshkian said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
He added that Iran “will not leave unanswered any aggression against its sovereignty and security,” according to the news agency.
Israeli warplanes carried out the Oct. 26 strikes in what Israel said was retaliation for Tehran’s October 1 missile barrage.
Iran had in turn described that attack as a reprisal for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Since the strikes last month, Israel has warned Iran against retaliating, while Tehran vowed to respond.
On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of the state, said the Islamic republic would retaliate.
“The enemies, both the USA and the Zionist regime, should know that they will definitely receive a tooth-breaking response to what they are doing against Iran, the Iranian nation, and the resistance front,” Khamenei said in a speech to students in Tehran.
He was referring to the alliance of Tehran-backed armed groups that include Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
After the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they “hit Iran’s defense capabilities and missile production.”
Iran’s armed forces said the attack killed four military personnel and caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems. Iranian media said a civilian was also killed.


Jordan to host inaugural Gulf-Jordanian Investment Conference

Jordan to host inaugural Gulf-Jordanian Investment Conference
Updated 03 November 2024
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Jordan to host inaugural Gulf-Jordanian Investment Conference

Jordan to host inaugural Gulf-Jordanian Investment Conference
  • JCC’s President Khalil Haj Tawfiq speaks of collaborative spirit of event

LONDON: The Jordan Chamber of Commerce will host the inaugural Gulf-Jordanian Investment Conference on Dec. 4, the Jordan News Agency reported on Sunday.

Held in alignment with Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision, the event is the latest bid to boost economic cooperation between Jordan and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) in conjunction with the Gulf-Jordanian Economic Forum, which held its third edition in 2023.

The conference will coincide with the 65th meeting of the Federation of Chambers of the GCC’s Board of Directors — the first such gathering held outside the GCC states.

The JCC President Khalil Haj Tawfiq told of the collaborative spirit of the conference in a statement on Sunday.

He said: “Through this conference we aspire to establish an integrated economic framework that will strengthen trade and investment cooperation, allowing us to better navigate global economic challenges and attract further investment.”

Key figures expected at the conference include the Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Al-Budaiwi, leaders of Gulf chambers, board members, prominent Gulf investors, and representatives of economic and financial institutions from Jordan and the Gulf region.

The agenda will feature in-depth discussions on investment opportunities, success stories of Gulf investments in Jordan, and sector-focused dialogues with Jordanian ministers.

Priority sectors include energy, mining, transportation, logistics, tourism investment, food security, agricultural production, information technology, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Tawfiq highlighted the timeliness of the event, given the current economic challenges facing the region.

He praised King Abdullah II for fostering stability and creating an investor-friendly environment, adding: “This conference is pivotal for Gulf-Jordanian economic integration, especially as global economic crises continue to affect us all.”


Amid war and deep hunger, Gaza fisherman struggle to feed families

Amid war and deep hunger, Gaza fisherman struggle to feed families
Updated 03 November 2024
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Amid war and deep hunger, Gaza fisherman struggle to feed families

Amid war and deep hunger, Gaza fisherman struggle to feed families
  • Fishermen like Ghurab and Al Masry struggle daily to bring in even a modest catch to feed their families

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: After over a year of war in Gaza, Palestinian fishermen gather along the coastline, desperately casting their nets in hopes of catching enough for their families amid widespread hunger.
Since Israel began a military onslaught in Gaza after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, Israeli restrictions in the waters off the enclave have made life almost impossible for fishermen, who no longer sail out to sea and instead must stay by the shore.
In Khan Younis, Ibrahim Ghurab, 71, and Waseem Al Masry, 24, fish for sardines from the shoreline in front of a encampment of tents and makeshift shelters for those displaced by the war.
“Life is difficult,” Ghurab said. “One tries to secure food. There is no aid, we don’t receive anything anymore. In the beginning there was some (humanitarian) aid, very little, but now there is no more.”
Fishermen like Ghurab and Al Masry struggle daily to bring in even a modest catch to feed their families. There is rarely any fish left over from a daily haul to be sold to others.
Fishing was an important part of daily life in Gaza before the war, helping people eke out a living by selling their daily hauls in the market and feed the population.
But scant aid is reaching Gaza amid Israeli restrictions and frequent fighting, and many people have no income. The price of simple goods are largely out of reach for most.
“We have to come here and risk our lives,” Al Masry said, describing shootings by the Israeli military from the sea that he accused of targeting fisherman on the beach in Khan Younis.
Ghurab similarly said that Israeli military boats had fired upon fisherman at Khan Younis.
The Israeli military did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the claims the military had shot at fishermen.
Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas for the Islamist militant group’s deadly, cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023 has devastated densely populated Gaza and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.


Israel says nabbed Syrian spy working for Iran

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon.
This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon.
Updated 03 November 2024
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Israel says nabbed Syrian spy working for Iran

This picture shows a crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria's Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon.
  • The military named the “Iranian terror network operative” as Ali Soleiman Al-Assi, a Syrian citizen living in the area of the southern village of Saida

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Sunday it had captured a Syrian spy for Iran in recent months, thwarting a planned attack by what it described as Iranian terror networks.
The military named the “Iranian terror network operative” as Ali Soleiman Al-Assi, a Syrian citizen living in the area of the southern village of Saida.
“His activities included gathering intelligence on IDF (Israeli military) troops in the border area for future terror activity of the network,” it said in a statement.
The military said the operation took place “in recent months,” adding that the Syrian citizen “was detained and transferred for interrogation in Israel.”
The operation “prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the (occupied) Golan Heights.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, had previously reported that Israel had seized a Syrian man on July 19.
“Israeli forces detained a citizen who worked as a driver to transport milk to the capital Damascus,” the war monitor said in July.
It added that the Syrian was detained in the village of Al-Razatiya, in a southern province bordering the Golan Heights annexed by Israel.
“An Israeli military force of three cars and an armored vehicle crossed the border, entered the village and took the man to the occupied Golan Heights,” the observatory said.
Since late September Israel has been engaged in full-scale war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah began launching cross-border attacks last year, saying it was acting in support of Palestinian militants Hamas, whose unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Iran-aligned groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria have also been drawn into the fighting, and Iran and Israel have themselves attacked each other, heightening fears of even wider conflict.