Mediaboss Marketing

Heres a round-up of Al Jazeeras Middle East coverage this week.

Cross-border violence between Israel and Lebanon, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen meets the Houthis, and Irans hijab crackdown. Heres your round up of our coverage, written by Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Al Jazeera Digitals Middle East and North Africa editor.

First, there were the reports of a single rocket flying across the border from Lebanon into Israel. Then another. And then the news that more than 30 had been launched. The majority were intercepted by Israel, but the attack led to the most violent confrontation between Lebanon and Israel since 2006, a sign that the increasing violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is threatening to spread across the region.

[READ:What does the status quo at Al-Aqsa mean?]

The rockets were fired in retaliation for Israeli police attacks on Palestinian Muslims worshipping at Al-Aqsa Mosque.Israel responded with aerial attackson Lebanon and theGaza Stripbut, interestingly,they were limited, and did not hit targets belonging to the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah. Thats because Israel accused Palestinian fighters based in Lebanon of being behind the rocket attack, and not Hezbollah. But the Iran-backed Shia group has control over security in southern Lebanon, and its very hard to imagine an aerial assault, launched on Israel from their territory,without their explicit approval.

So, why did Israel not take things further and go after Hezbollah? One theory suggests its the lack of appetite for a regional conflict although Israel continues to hit targets in Syria. Or, maybe its the difficult domestic situation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whos been facinghuge protestsagainst his government. And then it gets weird,with the Pentagon suggesting that Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, has actually supported those protests, which are aimed at preventing Netanyahu from weakening the judiciary.

[READ:Noam Chomsky on Palestine, Israel and the state of the world]

On the ground there was more death in Israel, and the occupied West Bank. On April 7 in Tel Aviv an Italian tourist was killedafter being rammed by a car, whiletwo Israeli sisters were killed after being shot by Palestinians near a settlement in the occupied West Bank their mother also later died from her injuries. On April 10, Israeli forces killeda 15-year-old Palestinian boy as settlers, led by several government ministers,marched to an illegal settlementnear Nablus.

[READ:How Israel pays settlers to report Palestinian construction]

Meanwhile, as Christians of various denominations celebrate Easter, there is a growing spotlight on the increasing difficulties they face in the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, Christians say thatviolence against them has increasedunder the current far-right Israeli government, and the Greek Orthodox churchpublicly criticised Israeli authoritiesfor restrictions placed on the number of Christians allowed to attend Easter services. [Christianity] is the biggest religion in the world and yet Christians are being kept out of their quarter of the holy city on the holiest day of the year for them, one Anglican chaplain told Al Jazeera.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, diplomatic initiatives are being aimed at easing certain regional rivalries, particularly afterSaudi Arabia and Iran agreed to work towards fully restoring relations. But I still did a double-take when I saw photos of theSaudi ambassador to Yemen meeting the Houthisin the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. The visit was the first for a Saudi ambassador to Yemen since the beginning of Riyadhs military involvement inYemens warin 2015, and is a clear sign that the Saudis and the Houthis are growing ever closer to a deal, in large partthanks to Omani mediation.

[READ:Syrias FM becomes first top official to visit Saudi Arabia since 2011]

Theres now talk of a soon-to-be announced agreement, including another ceasefire, an end to import restrictions, more flights to Sanaa and, most significantly, a Saudi withdrawal from Yemen.

The Saudis have been trying to extricate themselves from Yemen for a while now, and these negotiations seem to be a big step in that direction. But does that mean an end to the devastating war in Yemen? Theresa lot of hope, particularly with abig prisoner swapexpected in the coming days. But the Saudis and the Houthis are not the only parties in this war. The Yemeni government and the southern separatists will want to have their say, too. Ignoring them, or the millions of Yemenis worried about a full Houthi takeover, wont make Yemens war go away.

There are now troubling signs in Iran even though anti-government protests that started in September have died down. Those protests started after a woman died in police custody after being accused of failing to adhere to Irans dress code. Many women refused to wear their mandatory headscarves in protest, and the sight of unveiled women has become increasingly common in some parts of Tehran. The authorities have now decided that that has gone too far, and areinstalling surveillance cameras to identify womennot wearing the hijab. In response, some Iranian women have beenposting photos onlineof themselves without a headscarf, defying authorities.

[READ:Will Azerbaijan-Iran tensions lead to war?]

Moza Almatrooshi is baking bread. But theres a crowd watching, because this is art.The chef and artists performance at Art Dubaiwas designed to highlight the people who make the staple food of billions of people worldwide, and the intersection of art and food.

[READ: Ramadan recipes: In Sudan, a dish called fuul completes the iftar table]

Turkeys economy tops agenda asErdogan launches election manifesto|Kuwaits political crisisleaves opponents waiting for new era |Israel signs $400m deal to sell anti-tank missiles to Greece|Iraq demands Turkey apologiseover Sulaymaniyah airport attack |At least 30 missing after two boats sink off the Tunisian coast|Canada repatriates 14 citizens from ISIL camps in Syria|UAE court dismisses South African request to extradite billionaire Gupta brothers| 20 years after the US invasion,where are Iraqs stolen antiquities?|Sudans pro-democracy activists stage proteststo mark anniversary of President Omar al-Bashirs overthrow |Egyptian traditions endangered by rampant inflation|Egypt denies leakabout supplying Russia with 40,000 rockets |Algeria law controlling media close to passing|Qatar and Bahrain end dispute, restore ties| Fears in Sudan asarmy and paramilitary force face off|

Im Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Lets hear your opinions. |Fedha, a virtual news presenter, using AI technology,has been unveiledby the Gulf regions oldest English-language daily newspaper. Is this the end of the world (or my world, at least)?

Read more from the original source:
Middle East round-up: Rockets fly between Lebanon and Israel - Al Jazeera English

Saudi Arabia and Iran started working this week on reopening their embassies in Tehran and Riyadh.

Why it matters: The step is a key element in the normalization process between the countries, which started several weeks ago after Saudi and Iranian officials signed a China-mediated agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations.

Driving the news: The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers met last Thursday in Beijing the first such meeting in seven years.

State of play: Alireza Enayati, the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministrys Gulf department, told the Iranian press that the aim is to reopen the embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah before the beginning of the hajj pilgrimage in June.

The big picture: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone on Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed the normalization process between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Worth noting: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday. It's the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister in more than a decade.

Read the original here:
Saudi Arabia and Iran hope to reopen embassies before the hajj - Axios

MOSCOW, April 11 (Reuters) - Russia started fuel exports to Iran by rail this year for the first time after traditional buyers shunned trade with Moscow, according to three industry sources and exports data.

Russia and Iran, both under Western sanctions, are forging closer ties in order to support their economies and to undermine Western sanctions which both Moscow and Tehran cast as unjustified.

Western sanctions on Russian oil products over what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine have reshaped global fuel markets with tankers taking longer routes and suppliers choosing exotic destinations and ways of transportation.

Iran has been under Western sanctions for years with limited access to global markets.

The oil ministries of Russia and Iran did not reply to requests for comment.

Last autumn Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced the start of swap supplies of oil products with Iran, but actual shipments only started this year, Reuters sources said.

In February and March Russia supplied up to 30,000 tonnes of gasoline and diesel to Iran, two sources familiar with the export data told Reuters.

A third source confirmed the trade but was not able to confirm the volumes.

All the volumes were supplied by rail from Russia via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. One of the sources said that some gasoline cargoes were sent on from Iran to neighbouring states, including Iraq, by truck.

Iran is an oil producer and has its own refineries, but recently its consumption had exceeded domestic fuel production, especially in its northern provinces, a trader in Central Asian oil products market said.

Russia had supplied small volumes of fuel to Iran by tanker via the Caspian Sea, as was the case in 2018, two traders familiar with the matter said.

Russian oil companies are currently interested in exporting diesel and gasoline to Iran by rail as exports by sea face high freight rates and a price cap imposed by the G7 countries.

However the rail exports face bottlenecks along the route, the sources said.

"We expect fuel supplies to Iran to rise this year, but we already see several issues with logistics due to rail congestion. That may keep exports from booming," one of the sources familiar with supplies to Iran said.

Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jason Neely

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Go here to read the rest:
Exclusive: Russia starts fuel supplies to Iran by rail -sources - Reuters

The on-again, off-again talks between Iran and western powers over Tehrans nuclear program have stalled yet again due to disagreements between the two sides.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has blamed Iran for killing an opportunity to come back to the negotiating table and maintained the talks were no longer a priority for the Biden administration.

Iran, meanwhile, seems to be inching closer to being able to actually build a nuclear weapon.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have said Iran had enriched uranium up to 84%, just short of the 90% required for a bomb.

And General Mark Milley, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress in late March that Iran could have enough fissile material to make a bomb in less than two weeks and a nuclear weapon itself within several months.

Given these developments, is there any room left for an agreement?

Over the past two years, both the US and European Union have been resolute in their efforts to revive the nuclear deal that had been scrapped by then-US President Donald Trump in 2018, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, Western attempts have yet to bear fruit, reportedly due to the maximalist demands made by the Iranians, including removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US list of foreign terror organisations.

Despite this, the EU believes the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action remains the only way for addressing Irans nuclear program. The US, despite de-prioritising the talks, is also not willing to officially announce the death of the deal.

This tunnel vision, however, seems to ignore the changes that have taken place since 2015, as well as the more general pattern of decision-making in Iran.

Although backers of the deal often argue it has significantly restricted Irans nuclear capabilities, Tehrans nuclear program has actually expanded in just two years. And recently, a news outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards made it clear that Iran cannot close its doors to the scientific methods of making a bomb for rational reasons.

Now, the big question is what Irans leaders will do next. The CIA director, William Burns, said in February that he believes Irans Supreme Leader has not yet made a decision on building nuclear weapons.

So, what is the Iranian leadership thinking? To answer a question like this, the pattern of decision-making in Irans history is a critical factor that has widely been ignored.

Since the 1979 revolution, Iranian leaders have exhibited a cautious and slow approach to making major decisions.

This protracted process of decision-making in Iran is rooted in anxiety about the long-term survival of the regime, which has been grappling with a range of internal and external threats over the past four decades.

For instance, it took eight years for the Islamic Republic to accept the ceasefire and peace talks with Iraq following their war in the 1980s.

In addition, Iranian authorities took a decade to be ready for serious negotiations on a nuclear agreement with the US and other global powers, following the disclosure of the countrys nuclear program in 2003.

Moreover, while Iran first suggested a look to the East policy in the mid-2000s under then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country didnt begin developing major policies in this direction until 2015. This has included military cooperation with Russia in both Syria and now Ukraine and a long-term economic, military and security agreement with China.

However, building nuclear weapons would certainly be the most consequential strategic decision by the Iranian leadership since the 1979 revolution.

So far, the slow process of decision-making in the Iranian leadership has played a significant role in hindering the weaponisation of the nuclear program.

And this limitation of the leadership could provide western powers with an opportunity, given the ongoing protests currently roiling the country.

The months-long protests erupted following the death of a woman in the custody of the morality police last year, hastening the decline of the regimes legitimacy inside the country and bringing new rounds of sanctions from the international community.

If western countries abandon their obsession over the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and continue to support the Iranian people in their protests through diplomatic and economic pressure, it will send a powerful signal to Irans leaders: the threats to the regimes existence are not limited to military factors, but also increasingly come from within the country.

It is important to note that amid the protests, Iranian officials and hardliner media have frequently stressed the nuclear deal is not dead and negotiations are ongoing, even though most of them had previously opposed any deal with the West.

This indicates the Islamic Republic would not be ready for the risks that the demise of the nuclear talks could bring namely, even fiercer protests from the public if it caused another economic shock.

Therefore, the longer the balance of power between the Iranian people and government remains unsettled, the more unlikely it is the regime will make a firm decision on nuclear weapons in the near term.

Consequently, this will provide the West with powerful leverage to secure a more robust and effective agreement in the long term.

If so, youll be interested in our free daily newsletter. Its filled with the insights of academic experts, written so that everyone can understand whats going on in the world. With the latest scientific discoveries, thoughtful analysis on political issues and research-based life tips, each email is filled with articles that will inform you and often intrigue you.

Get our newsletters

Editor and General Manager

Find peace of mind, and the facts, with experts. Add evidence-based articles to your news digest. No uninformed commentariat. Just experts. 90,000 of them have written for us. They trust us. Give it a go.

Get our newsletter

If you found the article you just read to be insightful, youll be interested in our free daily newsletter. Its filled with the insights of academic experts, written so that everyone can understand whats going on in the world. Each newsletter has articles that will inform and intrigue you.

Subscribe now

CEO | Editor-in-Chief

It helps you go deeper into key political issues and also introduces you to the diversity of research coming out of the continent. It's not about breaking news. It's not about unfounded opinions. The Europe newsletter is evidence-based expertise from European scholars, presented by myself in France, and two of my colleagues in Spain and the UK.

Get our newsletter

Head of English section, France edition

Read more here:
With Iran purportedly capable of making a nuclear bomb in a matter of months, what will its leaders do next? - The Conversation

Iranian authorities have said they will begin to identify and arrest women who ignore the mandatory hijab rules from next weekend in a bid to clamp down on women not covering their hair in public.

Since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the morality police for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly last September, one thing has changed in Iran: More and more women are out in public without veils.

This is despite it being a legal requirement under Iran's Islamic government.

For months, Iranian authorities have ignored violations of the deeply unpopular hijab law -- for fear of provoking further unrest -- but this is about to stop as discontent grows amongst hardliners.

The Ministry of the Interior recently called on citizens to reprimand women without hijabs, while the police chief has announced stricter measures to use video surveillance to identify those who violate the rules.

Under new plans, women who violate the rules will be taken to court andshop and restaurant owners who allow unveiled women to enter will be threatened with closure. Nevertheless, more and more women in Iran no longer want to submit to the strict dress codes.

Watch the video above to find out more.

Read the original post:
Iran to take harsher actions against women without hijab - Euronews