Syria Today: A Mass Killing on the Coast

See also Syria Special: Did Jabhat al-Nusra Pledge Allegiance to Al Qa'eda?
Syria Special: Translation of Abu Mohammed Al-Golani's Response to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Middle East Today: Iraq --- Highest Monthly Death Toll in 5 Years
Thursday's Syria Today: Assad Appears --- Does It Matter?

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1925 GMT: Refugees

Russia and China have rejected United Nations Security Council plans to inspect Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, claiming this may be preparation for "foreign intervention" .

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "is competent for [organising] visits to refugee camps that have been set by the UN, the Security Council has no competence for that," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Slovenia.

He added, "If there was an attempt to use the Syrian refugee situation to push forward some ideas about no-fly zones, then we and China might have seen in it an attempt to prepare a foreign intervention."

Jordanian officials warned this week that the more than 500,000 Syrian refugees was placing a "crushing weight" on the country.

The UNHCR has said the number of refugees in Jordan could reach 1.2 million by the end of the year --- equivalent to 1/5 of the Jordanian population.

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Syria Special: Translation of Abu Mohammed Al-Golani's Response to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The following is a translation of a transcription of an audio statement in Arabic given by the leader of Syrian insurgent faction Jabhat al-Nusra to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

See also: Syria Special: Did Jabhat al-Nusra Pledge Allegiance to Al Qa'eda?

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Syria Special: Did Jabhat al-Nusra Pledge Allegiance to Al Qa'eda?

You know that a media narrative has been established when Reuters puts it into its boilerplate text.

For example, the standard reference for the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra is now "the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda linked rebel group".

But what if that narrative is only half the story, based on a repetition of a distorted interpretation of a Jabhat al-Nusra statement, which misses crucial points and nuances? How does that affect our understanding of the Syrian conflict, and our responses to it?

Reading al-Golani's statement "from the ground up" rather than imposing a simplistic "Jabhat al-Nusra are al-Qaeda" label from above allows us to take these nuances into account when assessing the threat this group could pose both locally and in the wider region.

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Iran Propaganda 101: US Flaunts "Biggest Bunker Buster Bomb"

Look out, Iran --- it's a Massive Ordnance Penetrator

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One of the features of the ongoing power play between Washington and Tehran is the propaganda from both sides --- trying to show prestige as well as initimidating the "enemy" --- about their massive weapons.

Tehran almost incessantly declares its latest missile or naval advance while shouting that it is turning US capabilities --- such as drones --- back on Washington. The Americans parade a supposed "new" technology to warn Iran against any mischief in the region.

Last month the US centrepiece was an experimental laser to be placed aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf, deterring any attack by small Iranian boats.

See EA Video Analysis: Iran and the American Lasers of Doom

This morning the press release --- eagerly put out by The Wall Street Journal --- is of a "penetrator" to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.

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Middle East Today: Iraq --- Highest Monthly Death Toll in 5 Years

Car Bomb in Baghdad, 16 April (AFP)Iraq: Highest Death Toll in Five Years

Amid rising protests and instability, the United Nations mission in Iraq says 712 people were killed in April, the highest death toll since June 2008.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said 211 people were killed and 486 injured in and near Baghdad alone. Diyala, Salahuddin, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Anbar Provinces also saw spikes in deaths.

Almost 600 of the dead were civilians.

Iraq's Ministry of Interior said 245 people were slain.

The figures were released as Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs published a pessimistic report about the state of Iraq, 10 years after the US-led invasion:

Iraq has undergone a transition from a purely authoritarian system to one with an elected government. However, the levers of power used by the previous regime - organized violence, oil-funded state patronage and the use of communal differences for 'divide and rule' strategies - remain crucial factors in the country's politics.

The report sets out three scenarios for the country:

Syria's conflict becomes the main driver of political trends in Iraq as Iraqi factions take increasingly polarized positions on Syria and pursue diametrically opposed policies in supporting the warring sides with money and fighters.

Iraq becomes more resilient, resisting efforts by Al-Qaeda and others to exacerbate sectarian tensions, and hedging its bets on Syria.

Iraqis remain fractious and disunited, avoiding state collapse but continuing to be heavily influenced by the agendas of competing regional powers.

Iran Today: Regime Attacks Rafsanjani as "Leader of Sedition"

Election Watch: Teachers Urge Rafsanjani to Run.

An assembly of reformist-aligned teachers and researchers has issued a statement condemning recent “insults” of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami and urged the two former presidents to accept the invitation of the people and run for office in June’s election.

Economy Watch: Ahmadinejad Under Fire.

President Ahmadinejad has come under more criticism today, this time by Grand Ayatollah Musavi Aradabilli who told a meeting of labour leaders that if the government follows the same policies as the present one, the country’s economic condition will only worsen.

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Iran Today: Promoting Ahmadinejad and His Man for President

Ahmadinejad Watch --- MPs and Revolutionary Guards Slam President

Ahead of the formal declarations of candidates for June;s Presidential election, prominent figures have spoken out against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

Conservative MP Ali Motahari slammed Ahmadinejad, calling him a "spoilt child".

In a direct dig at the President and an indirect jibe at the Supreme Leader, Motahari --- a brother-in-law of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani --- said that the current crisis in Iran is due both to of Ahmadinejad’s mismanagement and attitude and to the support that he had from "elders".

Motahari has previously tried to summon Ahmadinejad to Parliament to face questioning and possible impeachment.

Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's deputy representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has said Ahmadinejad has no power to create problems in the upcoming Presidential elections.

Zolnour said that even if the Guardian Council approves Ahmadinejad's man Rahim-Mashai, he will not get any votes.

Hojatoleslam Mehdi Taeb, the head of the Ammar Strategic Base --- an organization established to fight the so-called “soft war” against Iran --- also spoke out against Ahmadinejad's policies.

Taeb said that last year he warned Ahmadinejad to stay away from Rahim-Mashai, who would disgrace him.

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Syria Today: Assad Appears --- Does It Matter?

President Assad looks at the wall of an electricity plant on Workers' Day on Wednesday

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2046 GMT: Mass Killing

Claimed photos are circulating of the mass killing in Bayada.

1956 GMT: Mass Killing

Activists are claiming that scores of people have been slain by regime forces in Bayada in Homs Province:

Another martyr, Wassim Uthman, from the #BaydaMassacre today in #Banias. Total martyred: 200-300 civilians. | #Syria twitter.com/yasmeenmobayed…

— yasmeen mobayed (@yasmeenmobayed) May 2, 2013

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Syria Today: "US Moving Towards Supply of Weapons to Insurgents"

Claimed footage of US "non-lethal" aid moving to insurgents inside Syria

See also Middle East Today: Palestine --- Assassination of "Bomb-Maker", Killing of Jewish Settler
Tuesday's Syria Today: A Chemical Weapons Attack in Idlib Province?

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1920 GMT: Chemical Weapons

Local Turkish officials say they testing blood samples taken from Syrian casualties, brought over the border this week, to determine whether they were victims of a chemical weapons attack.

The samples were sent to Turkey's forensic medicine institute after several Syrians with breathing difficulties were brought from Syria's Idlib Province to the Turkish town of Reyhanli in Hatay Province along the border..

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Iran Today: A Presidential Field Out of Control?

See also Iran Exclusive: Rafsanjani Prepares for a Presidential Campaign...and a Challenge to the Supreme Leader
Tuesday's Iran Today: Rafsanjani "Might Run For President"

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Rafsanjani Watch

Another twist in the "Will he run? Won't he run?" story of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani....

Rafsanjani ally Hassan Rohani, who is also a Presidential hopeful, has declared, “Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani] will definitely not be a candidate in the upcoming election."

Rohani, who is an official with the Expediency Council that Rafsanjani chairs, has been considered the choice of the former President's camp. However, in the last week Rafsanjani has indicated --- see separate EA Exclusive --- that he might stand.

Rohani also dismissed speculation that he might quit the race in favor of Rafsanjani.

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