- Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone Of Interest’ Oscar Speech Draws Condemnation Letter Signed By Hundreds Of Jewish Entertainment Industry Pros Deadline
- ‘Zone of Interest’ Producer Disagrees With Director’s Oscars Speech The Daily Beast
- Guest Column: I Produced an Oscar-Winning Holocaust Film. Here Is Why Jonathan Glazer’s Speech Was So Offensive Hollywood Reporter
- Oscar-winning ‘Zone of Interest’ exposes Auschwitz through a domestic lens National Catholic Reporter
- Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech condemned by Son of Saul director: ‘He should have stayed silent’ The Guardian
Tag Archives: condemnation
Condemnation Of War But Not Russia, “Language” Takes Centre Stage As Ukraine Shadows Key Summits – CRUX
- Condemnation Of War But Not Russia, “Language” Takes Centre Stage As Ukraine Shadows Key Summits CRUX
- Why Ukraine overshadowed the EU’s big summit with Latin America POLITICO Europe
- An eight-year diplomatic lull is over. So what did EU and Latin American and Caribbean leaders achieve? Atlantic Council
- Remarks by Charles Michel at the press conference of the EU-CELAC Summit Présidence française du Conseil de l’Union européenne 2022
- EU to invest €45bn in Latin America and Caribbean The Guardian
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Protests in Stockholm, including Koran-burning, draw strong condemnation from Turkey
STOCKHOLM, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Protests in Stockholm on Saturday against Turkey and Sweden’s bid to join NATO, including the burning of a copy of the Koran, sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic country needs Ankara’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book … Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Its statement was issued after an anti-immigrant politician from the far-right fringe burned a copy of the Koran near the Turkish Embassy. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia.
A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden’s bid to join NATO. A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling.
“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Billstrom said on Twitter.
The Koran-burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has held a number of demonstrations in the past where he has burned the Koran.
Paludan could not immediately be reached by email for a comment. In the permit he obtained from police, it says his protest was held against Islam and what it called Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s attempt to influence freedom of expression in Sweden.
Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the Koran-burning. “Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids. Turkey has said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against what it sees as terrorists, mainly Kurdish militants and a group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.
At the demonstration to protest Sweden’s NATO bid and to show support for Kurds, speakers stood in front of a large red banner reading “We are all PKK”, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party that is outlawed in Turkey, Sweden, and the United States among other countries, and addressed several hundred pro-Kurdish and left-wing supporters.
“We will continue our opposition to the Swedish NATO application,” Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against NATO and one of organizers of the demonstration, told Reuters.
Police said the situation was calm at all three demonstrations.
DEFENCE MINISTER’S VISIT CANCELLED
Earlier on Saturday, Turkey said that due to lack of measures to restrict protests, it had cancelled a planned visit to Ankara by the Swedish defence minister.
“At this point, the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Turkey on January 27 has become meaningless. So we cancelled the visit,” Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said.
Jonson said separately that he and Akar had met on Friday during a gathering of Western allies in Germany and had decided to postpone the planned meeting.
Akar said he had discussed with Erdogan the lack of measures to restrict protests in Sweden against Turkey and had conveyed Ankara’s reaction to Jonson on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
“It is unacceptable not to make a move or react to these (protests). The necessary things needed to be done, measures should have been taken,” Akar said, according to a statement by Turkish Defence Ministry.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had already summoned Sweden’s ambassador on Friday over the planned protests.
Finland and Sweden signed a three-way agreement with Turkey in 2022 aimed at overcoming Ankara’s objections to their membership of NATO. Sweden says it has fulfilled its part of the memorandum but Turkey is demanding more, including extradition of 130 people it deems to be terrorists.
(This story has been corrected to remove the erroneous reference to Morocco in the ninth paragraph)
Reporting by Omer Berberoglu in Istanbul and Niklas Pollard and Simon Johnson in Stockholm
Additional reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz in Cairo
Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun and Niklas Pollard
Editing by Toby Chopra and Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Israel’s far-right Ben Gvir visits key Jerusalem holy site amid Palestinian condemnation
Jerusalem
CNN
—
Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday visited the Jerusalem compound known as the Temple Mount by Jews and the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, in a move that drew international condemnation.
Videos published on Israeli media showed Ben Gvir walking through the compound surrounded by Israeli police.
Tensions are high over the flashpoint complex, which is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the site of the destroyed first and second Jewish Temples. Only Muslims are allowed to pray at the complex under a decades-old agreement; Ben Gvir believes that Jews should have the right to pray there too.
Palestinians immediately objected to the visit.
“We strongly condemn extremist Ben Gvir’s storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and we consider it an unprecedented provocation and a serious threat,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We hold [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu responsible for its consequences on the conflict and the region.”
Ben Gvir entered the compound on Tuesday but not the Al-Aqsa Mosque building itself. The lawmaker’s visit was his first since he was sworn in last week as national security minister, in what is set to be the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. It is led by Netanyahu, who has returned for his sixth term as prime minister at the head of a coalition that includes several extremist parties.
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party, has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. As national security minister, he oversees police in Israel as well as some police activity in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, warned that Ben Gvir’s visit would be a “precursor for the ignition of the region” and it will be “pouring fuel over fire.”
“The Israeli government of which I am a member will not surrender to a vile murdering organization,” Ben Gvir responded in a tweet. “The Temple Mount is open to everyone and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, let them understand that times have changed. There is a government in Jerusalem!”
Under the so-called status quo agreement dating back to Ottoman rule of Jerusalem, only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and non-Muslims are only allowed to visit the complex at certain times. Israel and other states agreed to maintain status quo access to these holy sites after Israel captured them in the 1967 war.
Some religious nationalist Jewish groups have been demanding access to the Temple Mount area for Jewish prayer. There have been several instances of Jewish visitors conducting prayers on the compound, sparking outrage from Muslim authorities and forced removals by Israeli police.
Visits by Israeli political figures have historically preceded periods of violence between Israel and Palestinians. The conservative Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to the complex in September 2000 contributed to the start of the Second Intifada, a yearslong Palestinian uprising against Israel.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid criticized Netanyahu over the visit, calling him “weak” for entrusting the “most irresponsible man in the Middle East to the most explosive place in the Middle East.”
In a tweet, Lapid called the visit a “provocation that will lead to violence that will endanger human life and cost human lives,” and said that it’s time for Netanyahu to tell Ben Gvir, “you don’t go up to the Temple Mount because people will die.”
The visit also drew a chorus of international criticism.
The UAE “strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister under the protection of Israeli forces,” in a statement without mentioning Ben Gvir by name.
The Gulf nation has been attempting to maintain its support for the Palestinians while balancing its newly formed partnership with Israel. The country has issued past condemnations, particularly over events that raise tension over the holy sites in Jerusalem.
Egypt’s foreign ministry “warned of the negative repercussions of such measures on security and stability” and called “on all parties to exercise restraint and responsibility and refrain from any measures that would inflame the situation.”
Jordan condemned Ben Gvir’s visit in the “strongest” terms, calling it “a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law, and of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its sanctities.”
Jordan’s monarchy has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites since 1924 and sees itself as the guarantor of the religious rights of Muslims and Christians in the city.
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation also issued a statement holding Israel responsible for the repercussions of “aggression” against Palestinian people.
A US embassy spokesperson said: “Ambassador (Tom) Nides has been very clear in conversations with the Israeli government on the issue of preserving the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites. Actions that prevent that are unacceptable.”
The British consulate in Jerusalem said in a statement on Facebook that it was “concerned” by Ben Gvir’s visit and said it “remains committed to the status quo.”
Netanyahu insisted Tuesday that his government was not seeking to change the rules at the site. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to strictly maintaining the status quo, without changes, on the Temple Mount,” a statement from his office said.
“We will not be dictated to by Hamas. Under the status quo, ministers have gone up to the Temple Mount in recent years, including Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan; therefore, the claim that a change has been made in the status quo is without foundation.”
Myanmar executes four democracy activists, drawing condemnation and outrage
July 25 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military junta on Monday said it had executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terror acts” in the Southeast Asian nation’s first executions in decades, sparking widespread condemnation.
Sentenced to death in closed-door trials in January and April, the four men had been accused of helping militias to fight the army that seized power in a coup last year and unleashed a bloody crackdown on its opponents.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration outlawed by the ruling military junta, condemned the executions and called for international action against Myanmar’s junta.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
“Extremely saddened … condemn the junta’s cruelty,” the NUG president’s office spokesman Kyaw Zaw told Reuters via message. “The global community must punish their cruelty.”
Among those executed were democracy figure Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former lawmaker and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41-year-old ally of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost their appeals against the sentences in June. The two others executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.
“I am outraged and devastated at the news of the junta’s execution of Myanmar patriots and champions of human rights and democracy,” Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said in a statement.
“My heart goes out to their families, friends and loved ones and indeed all the people in Myanmar who are victims of the junta’s escalating atrocities … These depraved acts must be a turning point for the international community.”
Thazin Nyunt Aung, the wife of Phyo Zeyar Thaw, said she had not been told of her husband’s execution. Other relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
The men had been held in the colonial-era Insein prison and a person with knowledge of the events said their families visited the prison last Friday. Only one relative was allowed to speak to the detainees via the Zoom online platform, said the person.
Myanmar’s state media on Monday reported the executions had taken place and junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun later confirmed the executions to Voice of Myanmar. Neither gave any details about when the executions occurred.
Previous executions in Myanmar have been by hanging.
An activist group, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), said Myanmar’s last judicial executions were in the late 1980s.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Last month, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun defended the death penalty, saying it was justified and used in many countries.
“At least 50 innocent civilians, excluding security forces, died because of them,” he told a televised news conference.
“How can you say this is not justice?” he asked. “Required actions are needed to be done in the required moments.”
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), appealed in a letter in June to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing not to carry out the executions, relaying deep concern among Myanmar’s neighbours.
Myanmar’s ruling junta has condemned foreign statements about the execution orders as “reckless and interfering”.
Myanmar has been in chaos since last year’s coup, with conflict spreading nationwide after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in cities.
“These horrendous executions were murders. They’re a part of the junta’s ongoing crimes against humanity and attack on the civilian population,” Matthew Smith, head of Southeast Asia’s Fortify Rights, told Reuters.
“The junta would be completely wrong to think this would instil fear in the hearts of the revolution.”
The AAPP says more than 2,100 people have been killed by the security forces since the coup. The junta says that figure is exaggerated.
The true picture of violence has been hard to assess as clashes have spread to more remote areas where ethnic minority insurgent groups are also fighting the military.
Last Friday, the World Court rejected Myanmar’s objections to a genocide case over its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority, paving the way for the case to be heard in full. read more
The latest executions close off any chance of ending the unrest in the country, said Myanmar analyst Richard Horsey, of the International CRISIS group.
“Any possibility of dialogue to end the crisis created by the coup has now been removed,” Horsey told Reuters.
“This is the regime demonstrating that it will do what it wants and listen to no one. It sees this as a demonstration of strength, but it may be a serious miscalculation.”
Acting Asia director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said the executions aimed to chill the anti-coup protest movement.
“European Union member states, the United States, and other governments should show the junta that there will be a reckoning for its crimes,” said Pearson.
“They should demand immediate measures, including the release of all political prisoners, and let the junta know the atrocities it commits have consequences.”
(This story corrects paragraph 2 to clarify timing of trials)
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Reuters Staff;
Writing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Masked white supremacist march in Boston draws condemnation: “Your hate is as cowardly as it is disgusting”
Several dozen white supremacists marched through the streets of Boston Saturday.
The men, some of whom carried police shields and flags, were part of the white supremacist group Patriot Front, CBS Boston reports. At one point, they boarded a subway train at a downtown station.
The march drew the condemnation of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“To the white supremacists who ran through downtown today: When we march, we don’t hide our faces,” Wu tweeted. “Your hate is as cowardly as it is disgusting, and it goes against all that Boston stands for.”
There was no word of any arrests.
Last month, a group of 31 men believed to be Patriot Front members were arrested near a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The men were found inside a U-Haul truck which contained shields and at least one smoke grenade. Police believe they were planning a riot.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Patriot Front as a “white nationalist hate group.”
UAE, Bahrain, Morocco join condemnation of police actions at Temple Mount clashes
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco on Saturday joined in the condemnation of Israel over the previous day’s violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in scenes akin to those that prefaced last May’s Gaza war.
“The UAE strongly condemned today Israeli forces’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which resulted in the injury of a number of civilians,” the Gulf state’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it “underscored the need for self-restraint and protection for worshipers.”
The statement said it “stressed the UAE’s position that the Israeli authorities should respect the right of Palestinians to practice their religious rites and halt any practices that violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Furthermore, the UAE underscored the need to respect the custodial role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in accordance with international law and the historical context at hand and not to compromise the authority of the Jerusalem endowment that manages the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the statement continued, referring to the Waqf Muslim authorities who administer the religious sites on the Temple Mount.
Morocco, meanwhile, expressed its “firm condemnation of the incursion by Israeli occupation forces into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, their closure of its gates and their aggression against unarmed worshipers in the mosque compound.”
A foreign ministry statement said the kingdom “believes that this flagrant aggression and deliberate provocation during the holy month of Ramadan will only inflame hatred and extremism, and reduce to nothing the chances of any relaunch of a peace process in the region.”
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry issued a similar statement saying “the Israeli police’s storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” and subsequent injury and arrest of Palestinian rioters was “a provocation to Muslims, especially in the holy month of [Ramadan].”
The Gulf states’ condemnations came after the United States expressed its “deep concern” over the violence in Jerusalem, and Israel’s Mideast neighbors, including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all issued statements of fierce condemnation.
An Israeli police officer lifts his baton in front of the Dome of the Rock during clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound atop the Temple Mount, on April 15, 2022. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
The UN and EU were more measured in their responses, instead focusing on calling for calm and urging the parties to act with restraint.
Masked Palestinians take position during clashes with Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, on April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians barricaded inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stockpiling rocks and other objects to hurl at intruders. Dozens of young people began marching through the compound, some waving Palestinian flags, while others carried green banners associated with the Hamas terror group, police said. The marchers threw stones and set off fireworks.
Officers arrested some 400 rioters and the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 158 were injured — a majority of them likely due to tear gas inhalation. Footage showed chaos at the site, with showers of rocks and fireworks shot toward heavily armed police. Palestinians circulated clips of officers striking protesters, including fleeing women and journalists.
חג חירות שמח יהודים pic.twitter.com/OTaGuk56fg
— Gal Yoffe (@GalYoffe) April 15, 2022
Determined to clear the mosque of the stockpiled stones, police decided to breach the building in what resulted in dozens of arrests and scenes identical to those that unfolded nearly a year ago.
After six hours though, they managed to rid the compound of rioters. Calm was restored and afternoon prayers managed to go off without incident, with some 50,000 Muslim worshipers taking part.
Palestinian protesters hurl stones towards Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 15, 2022. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
Ramadan is typically a period of high tension, as tens of thousands of worshipers, including many West Bank Palestinians, attend services at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the Temple Mount complex. The site is Judaism’s holiest place, and the mosque is Islam’s third-holiest.
The site is the emotional epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and tensions there can easily snowball into wider conflagrations. Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups have repeatedly invoked the flashpoint holy site as a red line. Police actions to quell riots there last year helped trigger the 11-day war in Gaza in May.
In addition to the holiday friction, Israeli troops have been carrying out extensive raids in the West Bank following the deadliest outbreak of terror in Israel in years.
We’re telling a critical story
Israel is now a far more prominent player on the world stage than its size suggests. As The Times of Israel’s Diplomatic Correspondent, I’m well aware that Israel’s security, strategy and national interests are always scrutinized and have serious implications.
It takes balance, determination, and knowledge to accurately convey Israel’s story, and I come to work every day aiming to do so fully.
Financial support from readers like you allows me to travel to witness both war (I just returned from reporting in Ukraine) and the signing of historic agreements. And it enables The Times of Israel to remain the place readers across the globe turn to for accurate news about Israel’s relationship with the world.
If it’s important to you that independent, fact-based coverage of Israel’s role in the world exists and thrives, I urge you to support our work. Will you join The Times of Israel Community today?
Thank you,
Lazar Berman, Diplomatic Correspondent
Yes, I’ll give
Yes, I’ll give
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
FB.Event.subscribe('comment.create', function (response) { comment_counter++; if(comment_counter == 2){ jQuery.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/wp-content/themes/rgb/functions/facebook.php", data: { p: "2746803", c: response.commentID, a: "add" } }); comment_counter = 0; } }); FB.Event.subscribe('comment.remove', function (response) { jQuery.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/wp-content/themes/rgb/functions/facebook.php", data: { p: "2746803", c: response.commentID, a: "rem" } }); });
};
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Read original article here
Israel pushes for UNSC condemnation of Iranian maritime terrorism
Israel is pushing for a United Nations Security Council condemnation against Tehran for Friday’s attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker attacked off the coast of Oman, which it believes was carried out by Iranian drones.
The Romanian captain of the ship, called Mercer Street, and a British crew member were killed in the attack. They are the first causalities in the ongoing maritime violence between Iran and Israel.
According to a diplomatic source, Israel is “working with other countries, especially Britain and the United States, and more to advance the Security Council’s discussion on this serious terrorist act by Iran that joins its other actions that call into question and endanger all maritime security and free trade.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan intends to send an official letter of complaint to the UNSC to request a meeting and the issuance of a condemnation.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has instructed the embassies in London, Washington and New York to discuss the need for a diplomatic response with the relevant parties in the British and American governments as well as at the UN.
Israel is underscoring the message that Iran poses a danger to world peace and this attack violates navigational freedom and is a threat to international trade.
Lapid has spoken with his British, Romanian and US counterparts, but none of those countries have clearly fingered Iran.
After his conversation Saturday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lapid tweeted the following. “We are working together against Iranian terrorism, which poses a threat to all of us, by formulating a real and effective international response.”
“Iran has time and again underestimated Israel’s determination to defend itself and its interests,” Lapid wrote.
“Foreign Ministry officials are working in all the relevant arenas to promote international condemnation and response,” he wrote.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken and Lapid had “agreed to work with the UK, Romania, and other international partners to investigate the facts, provide support, and consider the appropriate next steps.”
U.S. and European sources familiar with intelligence reporting said on Friday that Iran was their leading suspect for the incident.
According to a senior Israeli official, the attack – which took place just days before the swearing-in of Iran’s new hardline president Ebrahim Raisi – shows “the masks are coming off and no one can pretend they don’t know the character of the Iranian regime.
“Iran isn’t just Israel’s problem, it is a global problem, and its behavior endangers free global shipping and trade. Our campaign against them will continue.
“This is an Iranian terror attack that killed two innocent men, harming international shipping,” the official continued, adding that “Iran is sowing violence and destruction in every corner of the region. Out of their eagerness to attack an Israeli target, they embroiled themselves and incriminated themselves in the killing of foreign citizens.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi spoke on the phone following the strike, which is being treated as a severe terror attack.
Mercer Street, is a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime. The company said on Friday the vessel was sailing under the control of its crew and own power to a safe location with a U.S. naval escort. That escort was the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“U.S. Navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack,” said Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.
“Initial indications clearly point to a UAV-style (drone) attack,” it added.
IAl Alam TV, the Iranian government’s Arabic-language television network, cited unnamed sources as saying the attack on the ship came in response to a suspected, unspecified Israeli attack on Dabaa airport in Syria.
Iran and Israel have traded accusations of attacking each other’s vessels in recent months.
Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iraan in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides maritime security information, said the vessel was about 152 nautical miles (280 km) northeast of the Omani port of Duqm when it was attacked.
According to Refinitiv ship tracking, the medium-size tanker was headed for Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Anna Ahronheim and Reuters contributed to this report.
Iran says it has further enriched its uranium, drawing widespread condemnation
Iran has taken steps to enrich uranium metal to a 20 percent purity and manufacture nuclear reactor fuel, the United Nation’s top nuclear watchdog announced Tuesday.
With the use of “indigenously-produced uranium” Iran will reportedly use fuel to supply the Tehran Research Reactor, but the U.S. and allied nations have called the move “worrying.”
US-IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL STALEMATE A ‘MISTRUST-AND-VERIFY SITUATION,’ FORMER CIA CHIEF SAYS
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said it was “another unfortunate step backwards” as the U.S. has engaged in indirect talks on nuclear nonproliferation with Iran since April.
Price told reporters Tuesday that the move will not give Iran any leverage as the U.S. seeks to re-establish a nuclear agreement with the Middle Eastern nation, and said the “window for diplomacy remains open.”
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — which Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of in 2018 — Iran is not permitted to enrich uranium past a 3.67 percent purity threshold, which is all that is needed to power a commercial-grade power plant, according to the Arms Control Association.
But International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday that Iran had breached the regulation.
“Today, Iran informed the Agency that UO2 [uranium dioxide] enriched up to 20 percent U–235 would be shipped to the R&D laboratory at the Fuel Fabrication Plant in Esfahan, where it would be converted to UF4 [Uranium tetrafluoride] and then to uranium metal-enriched to 20% U–235, before using it to manufacture the fuel,” an IAEA spokesman said in a statement to Fox News.
BIDEN SAYS IRAN WILL NOT GET A NUCLEAR WEAPON ON HIS WATCH
Uranium-235 can be used to fuel nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors that run naval ships, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it can also be used for nuclear weapons – prompting concern from Western nations.
In a unified statement condemning Iran’s plan, foreign ministers from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom called the move “concerning” and an “escalation of its nuclear violations.”
“Iran has no credible civilian need for uranium metal R&D and production, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon,” the group said.
“We strongly urge Iran to halt all activities in violation of the JCPoA, without delay and to return to the negotiations in Vienna with a view to bringing them to a swift conclusion,” the foreign ministers continued. “Iran is threatening a successful outcome to the Vienna talks despite the progress achieved in six rounds of negotiations to date.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
There are no set plans for direct talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Price said the U.S. is not pushing Iran on a hard deadline when it comes to the negotiating table but said the administration is continuing to assess the situation.
Professor Eyal Zisser of Tel-Aviv University and former head of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies told Fox News this announcement “is part of the Iranian game to put pressure on the United States and to get a better deal.”
Zisser explained that the Iranians can feel how much Washington wants the deal, so they are adding pressure and creating a crisis to get a better deal.
Rich Edson contributed to this report.
China blocks UN condemnation as protest grows
China has blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning the military coup in Myanmar.
The military took power in the South East Asian nation on Monday after arresting political leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of other lawmakers.
The coup leaders have since formed a supreme council which will sit above the cabinet.
In Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon though, signs of resistance and civil disobedience have been growing.
Doctors and medical staff in dozens of hospitals across the country are stopping work in protest against the coup and to push for Ms Suu Kyi’s release.
The United Nations Security Council met on Tuesday but failed to agree on a joint statement after China did not support it. China has the power of veto as one of five permanent members of the council.
Ahead of the talks, the UN’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner, strongly condemned the military takeover which came after the army refused to accept the outcome of general elections held in November.
She said it was clear that “the recent outcome of the election was a landslide victory” for Ms Suu Kyi’s party.
In further criticism, the Group of Seven major economic powers said it was “deeply concerned” and called for the return of democracy.
“We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law,” the statement released in London said. The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
Why did China block the UN action?
China has been warning since the coup that sanctions or international pressure would only make things worse in Myanmar.
Beijing has long played a role of protecting the country from international scrutiny. It sees the country as economically important and is one of Myanmar’s closest allies.
Alongside Russia, it has repeatedly protected Myanmar from criticism at the UN over the military crackdown on the Muslim minority Rohingya population.
“Beijing’s stance on the situation is consistent with its overall scepticism of international intervention,” Sebastian Strangio, author and South East Asia editor at The Diplomat, told the BBC.
While China does benefit strategically from Myanmar’s alienation from the west, this does not mean that Beijing is happy with the coup, he cautions.
“They had a pretty good arrangement with the NLD and invested a lot to build a relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. The return of the military actually means that China now has to deal with the institution in Myanmar that historically is the most suspicious of China’s intentions.”
“Through this foreign policy equivalent of gaslighting, China seems to be signalling its tacit support, if not emphatic endorsement, for the generals’ actions,” Myanmar expert Elliott Prasse-Freeman, of the National University of Singapore, told the BBC.
“China seems to be proceeding as if this is Myanmar’s ‘internal issue’ in which what we are observing is a ‘cabinet reshuffle,’ as China’s state media put it.”
While he thinks a UN statement would not have made an immediate difference, it would still serve as “a first step for cohering an international response. That appears to not be forthcoming”.
Where is Aung San Suu Kyi?
Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the now-ousted elected government, has not been seen since she was detained by the military on Monday morning.
Dozens of others also remain detained, including President Win Myint, members of her party’s central committee and her personal attorney. They are reportedly being held under house arrest.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) demanded her immediate release on Tuesday. It has also called upon the military to accept the results of the November election, which saw the NLD win more than 80% of the votes.
Meanwhile, the United States said it had been unsuccessful in contacting the Myanmar military and has formally declared the takeover to be a coup d’etat. This means the US cannot directly assist the government, though most of its assistance goes to non-governmental entities.
The EU, UK, Australia and others have also condemned the takeover.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the armed forces until 2011, when a nominally civilian government was sworn in.
What is the situation in Myanmar?
Power has been handed over to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing. Eleven ministers and deputies, including those in finance, health, the interior and foreign affairs, were replaced.
In the first meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday, Min Aung Hlaing repeated that the takeover had been “inevitable”.
The country was calm in the aftermath of the coup, with troops patrolling all major cities and a night-time curfew in force.
Myanmar has a long history of military rule and many people can still remember the terror of previous coups.
But on Tuesday evening, car horns and the banging of cooking pots could be heard in the streets of Yangon in a sign of protest.
Activist groups have called for civil disobedience campaigns, setting up a Facebook group to organise their efforts.
Staff at 70 hospitals and medical departments across the country have reportedly stepped away from all non-emergency work.
Hundreds of healthcare workers, including senior doctors, have participated in the “Red Ribbon movement”, with many donning a red ribbon on their clothes to show they were against the coup. Online, many changed their social media profile pictures to one of just the colour red.
Some medics are also wearing symbols like black ribbons in silent protest.
Myanmar at a glance
Myanmar is a country of 54 million people in South East Asia which shares borders with Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand and Laos.
It was ruled by an oppressive military government from 1962 to 2011, leading to international condemnation and sanctions.
Aung San Suu Kyi spent years campaigning for democratic reforms. A gradual liberalisation began in 2010, though the military still retained considerable influence.
A government led by Ms Suu Kyi came to power after free elections in 2015. But a deadly military crackdown two years later on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing to Bangladesh and triggered a rift between Ms Suu Kyi and the international community.
She has remained popular at home and her party won again by a landslide in the November 2020 election. But the military have now stepped in to take control once more.
Originally published