WarSclerotic

The United States is working with European countries to convince them of the need to take stronger steps against the Iranian nuclear weapons program, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday.

Bolton was speaking at the Prime Minister’s Office prior to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his second meeting since arriving in Israel Sunday.

“I think it is of the highest importance for the United States that Iran never get nuclear weapons capabilities,” Bolton said.

“This is why President Trump withdrew from the wretched Iran nuclear deal. This is why he has imposed economic sanctions. This is why we are working with our friends in Europe to convince them of the need to take stronger steps against Iranian nuclear weapons,” he said.

This is also, Bolton added, the reason why we “continuously worry about Iran’s role as the central banker for international terrorism, this is why we worry about Iran’s belligerent military activity in Iran, in Syria, with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in Yemen.”

Bolton, who is in Israel through Wednesday on his first visit to the country since taking office in April, said that all of the regional threats he mentioned were also “global threats that pose a risk of international terrorism, especially terrorists’ possible use of weapons of mass destruction.”

Bolton, long a strong supporter of Israel and a loud critic of the Iranian nuclear deal, said that the alliance between Israel and the US, and between the peoples of both countries, have “never been stronger.”

Trump, Bolton said, has made the alliance “a cornerstone of his foreign policy,” just as Netanyahu has made it a cornerstone of Israel’s policy. He said it was “very important and helpful for the United States” to have in-depth, extended conversations with Netanyahu and his senior advisors.

Bolton began his brief comments by saying it was a “privilege and honor to be in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital,” to which Netanyahu joked: “Say that again.”

“Israel’s capital,” Bolton repeated, adding that he looked forward to visiting the new US embassy in Jerusalem

Netanyahu welcomed Bolton by saying that Israel has no better friend and ally than the US, and that the US has no better friend and ally than Israel.

In reference to Trump’s constant criticism of NATO countries for not spending enough of their own GNP for their defense burden, and relying on the US, Netanyahu said that Israel was a “peculiar kind of ally.”

“We’ve consistently increased our defense spending,” he said. “We insist on defending ourselves by ourselves and appreciate all manner of American support, but we believe that the alliance is the alliance of the strong and like-minded and we share America’s values of freedom and liberty.”

Netanyahu said that under Trump the US-Israel alliance is stronger than ever, and that Bolton’s visit gives the two countries the opportunity to “align our policies even more closely on Iran, on Syria, on Gaza and on the many challenges that face both our countries in this region.”

He thanked Trump for withdrawing from the “terrible deal with Iran,” saying this was “nothing less than a hinge of history.” He also applauded the Trump administration’s “determination to re-impose tough sanctions on Iran and those doing business with Iran. I know that that view is shared by all our Arab neighbors, or practically everyone in this region.”

Netanyahu said that all countries who care about Mideast peace and security should follow the US and “ratchet up the pressure on Iran, because the greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the chance that the regime will roll back its aggression.”

The prime minister also thanked the US for its unequivocal support for Israel in international forums.

“We hear it every day, on the podiums in the White House, in the State Department, at the United Nations,” he said. “This is deeply, deeply appreciated, and deeply valued.”

LONDON – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on Sunday that a new Iran Action Group in the US State Department aimed to overthrow the Islamic Republic, but would fail.

He was speaking on the 65th anniversary of a US-backed coup that overthrew a democratically elected Iranian prime minister, an occasion when anti-American sentiment runs particularly high in the Islamic Republic.

Comparing fresh US sanctions on Tehran imposed by President Donald Trump with the 1953 coup that ousted nationalist Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, Zarif said Tehran will not let history repeat itself.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday named senior policy adviser Brian Hook as special representative for Iran in charge of the Iran Action Group to coordinate Trump’s pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic following Washington’s withdrawal from an international nuclear deal with Tehran.

Zarif tweeted: “65 years ago today, the US overthrew the popularly elected democratic government of Dr. Mossadegh, restoring the dictatorship & subjugating Iranians for the next 25 years. Now an “Action Group” dreams of doing the same through pressure, misinformation & demagoguery. Never again.”

The United States and Britain orchestrated the removal of Mossadegh after he acted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, restoring to power Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The Western-backed shah was toppled in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the coup was the best historical lesson that Americans cannot be trusted.

“How dare you talk about the freedom of the Iranian nation with your dark record of the Aug. 19 coup, and the appointment of a puppet totalitarian regime,” Larijani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA, referring to the shah’s rule.

“Americans are imposing sanctions but they claim they are supporting freedom, human rights, and global and regional security,” Larijani said.

The 1953 Anglo-American coup remains an open wound in Iran’s relations with the West. In March 2000, then-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright became the first senior American official to acknowledge the American role in the coup, calling it “a setback for Iran’s political development.”

Washington and Tehran have had no diplomatic relations since the shah’s fall. Decades of hostility eased somewhat with the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and then-US President Barack Obama’s administration and five other world powers. But high tensions resumed after Trump pulled Washington out of the deal, calling it flawed in Iran’s favor.

BERLIN – German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom are ending projects in Iran after Washington imposed new sanctions against Tehran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States.

New US sanctions against Iran took effect last week and several European companies have suspended plans to invest in Iran in light of the US sanctions, including oil major Total as well as carmakers PSA, Renault and Daimler.

State-owned Deutsche Bahn is involved in two projects in Iran via its subsidiary DB Engineering&Consulting, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

“Both projects will be ended in August and September 2018 respectively,” she said. “Due to the altered banking practice we have sought to bring the contract to an amicable and timely conclusion.”

Deutsche Bahn signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways (BonRail) in May 2017 for the first project, which aimed to identify and address potential in rolling stock and organization, she said.

The second project, which started around 1-1/2 years ago, was a consulting contract for Iranian state railway RAI that included restructuring the company, the spokeswoman added.

Separately, Detecon, a subsidiary of T-Systems – Deutsche Telekom’s IT services arm – has terminated its business in Iran, a spokesman said. Detecon offers consulting services to companies in the telecommunications industry.

“Until the decision to stop operations was made, sales in Iran in 2018 amounted to around 300,000 euros,” he said.

“Given the sensitivity in relations with Iran worldwide, Detecon ended its business in Iran with immediate effect in mid-May 2018.”

The ending of Telekom’s involvement in Iran followed soon after the announcement that its US unit, T-Mobile, would buy Sprint Corp in a $26 billion deal that remains subject to the approval of US regulators.

As Turkey retaliates against the United States in their ongoing dispute over the detention of an American pastor, Ankara is mending ties with the European Union in an attempt to limit the damage to its economy, analysts told The Media Line.

Turkey’s currency recovered slightly after the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released various high-profile prisoners; this, after the lira plummeted to a new low last week when President Donald Trump increased tariffs on the import of Turkish aluminum and steel.

The head of Amnesty International’s Turkey branch, who was behind bars for over 14 months, was released on Wednesday. A day before, two Greek soldiers, who were detained in March after crossing into Turkish territory, were sent back to Greece.

Turkish officials say they want to engage the EU and Erdogan held a phone called with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week and was to set to speak to French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

“I think that Turkey is so integrated into the global economic system that it has realized it cannot afford to have bad ties with both the United States and Europe,” Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, explained to The Media Line.

Cagaptay, author of The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey, said the release of the Greek soldiers was especially notable because Turkey, which has had rocky relations with Athens, would not have unilaterally made the one-sided move unless Erdogan felt it was crucial.

Indeed, the stakes are high for Turkey, as the country’s economic problems extend well beyond the current crisis with the US

The lira had already plunged over 20 percent this year before Erdogan was re-elected in June.

Last month, the central bank increased its 2018 estimated inflation rate from 8.4% to 13.4%.

The currency rebounded following the prisoners’ release, and following an announcement by Qatar, a strong Turkish ally, that it will invest $15 billion in Turkey’s economy.

The lira’s free-fall was likewise stemmed by the implementation by Turkey’s central bank of policies that make it more difficult to borrow money. Experts are concerned that the country’s economy is overheated and that businesses will have a harder time paying back massive debts.

The currency strengthened by over three percent against the dollar on Thursday before Turkey’s finance minister was set to hold a conference call with investors. However, it was still down 34 percent in 2018.

Turkey’s image abroad is especially crucial because much of its growth has been fueled by foreign credit. That makes its decreasing currency even more problematic because businesses will have to spend more in liras to pay back debts that were given in dollars or euros.

But while relations with the E.U. are improving, there are no signs so far that Turkey or the US are willing to back down.

Despite the release of the Greek soldiers and the Amnesty International chair, a court ruled on Wednesday to extend US pastor Andrew Brunson’s from house arrest.

On the same day, Turkey announced it would be increasing tariffs on some US imports.

Erdogan has also called for a boycott of US electronic products like iPhones.

The Turkish leader’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, wrote on Twitter, “We are fending off this economic coup attempt with the wisdom of the Turkish nation and the leadership of our president.”

The White House has said there could be more economic measures against Turkey if Brunson is not released. Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for over twenty years and led a small church in the southwestern coastal town of Izmir, was jailed for nearly two years following the failed 2016 coup. He is accused of having links to a group that Ankara says was behind the coup. The US says the charges are without merit.

On Wednesday, US Vice President Mike Pence tweeted, “Turkey would do well not to test [President Trump’s] resolve to see Americans who are wrongfully imprisoned in foreign lands returned home to the United States.”

Can Selcuki, an analyst with Istanbul Economics Research and former World Bank economist, believes that Erdogan could be forced to change course if the economic instability increases but, for now, has shown a clear unwillingness to make concessions to the US

“Despite the lira depreciation, he’s not backing down,” Selcuki told The Media Line. “I don’t know what the breaking point is.”

Elmira Bayrasli, who teaches international affairs with a focus on Turkey at Bard College, said that Erdogan is improving relations with Europe to increase confidence in the Turkish market.

She explained to The Media Line that Turkey’s economic growth under Erdogan was partly predicated on the fact that investors viewed him as a stabilizing force.

“The more he can show that he’s very interested in having relationships and he is the leader who can restore that stability, the better it’s going to be,” she concluded, By retaliating against the US, Bayrasli said that Turkey will give the perception that its cutting itself off from the largest economy in the world, which will be bad for Turkey’s financial markets and growing businesses.

However, it is not just Turkey that has something to lose in this crisis. The country is a vital NATO ally, bordering Syria and Iraq.

It makes Turkey both more susceptible to instability, as well as a geopolitically valuable.

The US used a military base in southeastern Turkey to launch air strikes against ISIS.

“I think the United States has a vastly huge interest in the stability and prosperity of Turkey,” Bayrasli said.

“Both sides need to climb down from their blustery rhetoric.”

Palestinian reports say protestors have gathered along the border fence and are rioting and burning tires.

In addition, KKL firefighters are working on putting out two fires caused by incendiary balloons launched from the coastal enclave, both in the Be’eri forest in southern Israel.

On Thursday, it appeared that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met with Egypt’s intelligence minister to discuss possible terms for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

According to one source, the proposed ceasefire would include a year-long period of calm which could potentially be elongated to four years. The possible return of two Israeli civilians and the bodies of IDF soldiers held by Hamas would be discussed in negotiations throughout the year.

Following three days of relative calm along the border, Israel reopened Gaza’s Kerem Shalom border crossing on Wednesday morning to allow for the passage of economic goods into the Strip.

Despite the attempts to broker a ceasefire, Hamas-affiliated sources stated Friday that its people would continue to engage in weekly “Great March of Return” protests along the border – demonstrations and oft-violent riots that have been happening every Friday since March 30.