Iran Election Guide

Donate to EAWV





Or, click to learn more

Search

Entries in Saudi Arabia (4)

Saturday
Nov282009

Afghanistan: CIA Trying to Set Up Talks with Taliban?

TALIBANAn interesting item from an Afghanistan news site. The article, while shaky at points (Central Investigation Agency?), intersects with other stories pointing to a quiet US effort to get Taliban to the negotiating table as well as President Hamid Karzai's public declarations, and has been picked up by analysts such as Juan Cole:

The US proposal to hold talks with the Afghan Taliban leadership, with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia playing the role of mediators, has fallen apart.

The US Central Investigation Agency had been working to hold secret talks with the Taliban leadership, with the help of the Saudi leadership and the General Intelligence Directorate of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani leadership and the Inter Services Intelligence.

But with the Taliban hell-bent upon fighting the US-led international forces, the initiatives have failed to yield any desired result.

The News has quoted sources as saying the massive trust deficit between the two sides plus Taliban’s obstinacy had rendered the talks useless.

The US recently said it would not be opposed to the idea of holding talks with the Taliban to establish peace in the Afghanistan region.

Of late, the US intelligence services have been attempting to encourage the Taliban to discontinue their ties with Al-Qaeda.

However, sources privy to the issue, have said only middle rank Taliban leaders had agreed to talks, and any decision made by these leaders would not have made any major impact on Afghan insurgency.
Monday
Nov232009

Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen: An Introduction to Conflict

The Latest on Iran (23 November): Reading the Signals of Abtahi’s Release

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

SAUDI-YEMENThe clashes between the Yemeni Government and an insurgency from Houthi Shi'a escalated, both in visibility and intensity, when Saudi forces became involved earlier this month, striking Houthi positions. Most of the media attention is now putting the internal conflict not only into a Saudi context but into a regional arena based on Saudi-Iranian rivalry, given Tehran's support for the Houthi.

Writing for Iran Review, Salimeh Daremi offers an overview of the situation:

Military clashes between government forces of Yemen and al-Houthi Shiites in Saada province are gradually turning into a full-blown, destructive war. Yemen is meanwhile grappling with various crises which reflect wide gaps between the Government of Abdullah Saleh and the opposition in north Yemen as a result of increasing influence of the separatist forces.

Widespread clashes in Saada, which are turning into a full-fledged war, can be very serious for Yemen and ultimately lead to a regional crisis. The ongoing developments in Saada show that both sides are not trying to find another way, but war, to achieve their goals and only believe in use of weapons. The present war in Yemen is not acceptable and the clashing parties should seek other solutions because they have already signed the Doha Agreement and its subsequent obligations.

At the same time, intervention of regional countries in the crisis calls for a regional consensus to reach a final solution and sustainable peace. Six wars, which have broken out between al-Houthi insurgents and the central government since 2004, have proven that foreign interventions are at work to fan the flames of clashes. Explicit intervention of Saudi Arabia in Yemen is a good instance to the point. On the other hand, it seems that Yemeni authorities are trying to attract international support subsequent to intensification of clashes between government forces and al-Houthi Shiites to suppress separatist tendencies.

Yemeni security and military officials have been in talks with the Americans over signing of a joint security agreement which would pave the way for such support. On the other hand, allegations about Tehran’s military and financial support for Shiites in Saada have turned the conflicts into a regional crisis. Although Iran has consistently rejected those allegations, but Arab countries consider Iran a threat to regional security. This viewpoint has its roots in pre-revolution Iran when the country was playing the role of a regional gendarme. Concerns about export of the Islamic Revolution as well as Iran’s support for such groups as Hamas and Hezbollah combined with Iran’s nuclear standoff in recent years are major factors which have sustained that assumption after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian media do not believe that al-Houthi tribe is any danger to Yemen and sympathize with the Shias and this has given rise to allegations that Iran is militarily and financially supporting Yemeni Shias. At the same time, Iranian authorities have reacted to the allegations by Yemenis officials. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has noted that Iran does not intend to foster tension in any place as this would be against its policies and national interests.

Summarizing the reasons behind the current crisis to foreign intervention is simplistic and other factors including ignoring the rights of the Shias and inattention to the Doha Agreement should be taken into account when analyzing this crisis. It seems that suspicions about Tehran’s role in the uprising cannot be dispelled through official stances taken by the Iranian officials. Some claims raised by Yemen like seizing a ship carrying Iranian arms for al-Houthi insurgents have led analysts to argue that the clashes in Yemen are, in fact, an indirect confrontation between Tehran and Riyadh. No solid proof, however, has been thus far produced by authorities in Sana’a to validate their claims about Iran supporting al-Houthi insurgents.

The root cause of anti-Iranian allegations by Saudi and Yemeni officials should be sought in recent regional developments. Domestic developments in Iran following the June presidential elections, subsequent negotiations between Iran and 5+1 on the Iranian nuclear case and concerns among US allies in the Persian Gulf over a possible reconciliation between Tehran and Washington, the improved situation of Lebanese resistance movement after publication of Goldstone report, Riyadh’s intervention in Lebanon and establishment of a national alliance government in that country are among major regional developments which have given rise to those allegations.
Wednesday
Nov182009

Israel-Syria-Palestine: Sarkozy the Mediator?

Middle East Talks: Netanyahu-Sarkozy Alliance To Exclude Turkey?
Syria: Assad Interview with France 2 TV

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis


phpmcRxJpAMIs French President Nicolas Sarkozy stepping in as the "honest broker" for Israel-Syria talks? In Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit, Sarkozy --- who has just met with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu in separate meetings --- said: "The deadlock that we find ourselves in today is very worrying. I told both Assad and Netanyahu that France is ready to facilitate a restart of the talks if both parties thought we could help in this effort."

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was in Amman on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. On Wednesday, he is going to Israel to hold a meeting on the prospect of peace talks.
Tuesday
Nov172009

Obama's Latest Bow: Not a Secret Muslim, Just a Pigeon in Japan

Enduring America regrets that it has to bring the sad news that the US President has once more bowed down to a foreign, unelected ruler.

Readers may recall that, when Obama lowered himself in a meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia earlier this year, our favourite on-line encyclopedia of eternal truth (and no liberal lies), Conservapedia, were a bit slow off the mark to portray Obama as a "secret Muslim".

So would they do any better on Saturday when President Barack Obama genuflected before Japan's Emperor Akihito?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kyD_e0Y7FQ&feature=related[/youtube]

Yes! Conservapedia made amends for their past delinquency, calling Obama's gesture a "bowfest" and posting a YouTube video showing that he "bobbed his head like a pigeon!":

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6fL7Y4BZA[/youtube]

Kudos to the right-wing defenders of all things encyclopedic if sad news, indeed, to see such abasement of the Leader of the Free World.

Still....better a pigeon than a secret Muslim?

warninglabel