A police officer patrols in front of banners put up by members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, in front of the Grand Hotel Wien during the closed-door nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna last week. AFP
A police officer patrols in front of banners put up by members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, in front of the Grand Hotel Wien during the closed-door nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna last week. AFP
A police officer patrols in front of banners put up by members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, in front of the Grand Hotel Wien during the closed-door nucle
A US delegation led by Brett McGurk, the White House co-ordinator for the Mena region, will visit key Arab countries this week. The timing of Mr McGurk's trip is curious and the news raises questions about its objective.
The visit comes at a time when Saudi Arabia and Iran have reportedly held behind-the-scenes talks with each other. Could these discussions lead to a breakthrough in relations between the two countries – and by extension, between the major powers including the US? It is hard to say.
Talks, meanwhile, are going on in the Austrian capital of Vienna over the future of the 2015 nuclear deal, called the JCPOA, struck between the globe’s major powers and Iran to limit the latter’s nuclear weapons programme. The purpose of these talks is to revive the deal after the previous US administration, led by Donald Trump, pulled out of it.
The Vienna talks, it seems, could lead to a gradual lifting of US-led sanctions against Iran, beginning with those on its oil exports. All indications suggest the six JCPOA signatories will give in to Tehran's conditions, one of which is to exclude the contentious issue of the Iranian regime's destabilising activities across the region from the actual nuclear talks.
This may explain why the current US administration, led by Joe Biden, has sought to send Mr McGurk to the Middle East: to reassure America’s Arab allies that they are not going to be excluded from any kind of rapprochement between the US and Iran, even though they are not part of the negotiations. Indeed, Washington wants its allies to rest assured that they remain “parallel partners”, and that the US will have their backs. In other words, it may simply be a consolation visit.
Mr Biden seems to have endorsed a two-track approach, which involves dealing with Iran's nuclear weapons programme before attempting to tackle its ballistic missiles programme and regional behaviour. However, there is no clear roadmap on how Washington will move from one track to the other.
In which case, what assurances will Mr McGurk present to the Arab states during his visit? Could there be a link between his upcoming trip and a recent one made by Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, to Saudi Arabia and Oman?
To get an idea of any linkages, it is important to assess the reported Saudi-Iranian bilateral talks. Clearly, the stability of neighbouring Yemen is at the top of Saudi Arabia’s list of priorities. The war there affects its national security, given that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is in charge of Iran's military campaigns in the region, supplies the Houthi rebels with weapons and fighters, the purpose of which is to destabilise the Kingdom.
Brett McGurk will be part of the delegation that will visit the Middle East. Reuters
Brett McGurk's trip to the Middle East may simply be a consolation visit
With the issue of the war in Yemen – and Iran’s role in it – excluded from the upcoming nuclear talks, the question is what Iran may seek to extract from Saudi Arabia in return for peace. Will Saudi Arabia be prepared to help Iran emerge from its regional and international isolation? It is a proposition that will no doubt interest Tehran, although whether that limits the IRGC’s own ambitions is left to be seen.
Syria, for example, is very important for Russia, which claims to be playing a role in facilitating the Saudi-Iranian talks and expanding them to include the creation of a security architecture for the Middle East that Moscow is keen on. Russia wants a Saudi-Iranian accord on issues related to Syria, but its efforts and ambitions clash with an unfavourable political reality. If Riyadh refuses to support the Assad regime in Syria, which is allied to Russia and Iran, that will amount to a deal-breaker for the IRGC, which not only conducts operations inside Syria but dominates Iran's foreign policy.
Another example to illustrate the difficulty of getting a breakthrough is linked to an Iranian demand to retain full freedom to operate inside other Arab countries, including Iraq and Lebanon.
One of the IRGC's most important proxies is Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by several states around the world but is a powerful entity in Lebanese politics. Tehran will attempt to extract concessions from Riyadh in the name of aiding the formation of a cabinet in Lebanon, following months of continued stalemate over its composition. But Iran ultimately wants a Lebanese government that it can control through Hezbollah. Such a reality would bear long-term costs and amount to a strategic mistake.
The same goes for Iraq.
Despite its grip on Lebanese politics, Hezbollah is considered by many to be a terrorist organisation. Reuters
Despite the obvious challenges, the reported Saudi-Iranian talks are a necessary and healthy development, and one hopes they will lead to a major shift in the two countries' relationship.
Circling back to Mr McGurk’s Middle East trip, the Biden administration may be signalling to its Arab allies that, unlike during the Obama years, it is not disregarding their concerns by seeking to do business with Iran at any cost. Yet this approach may not be enough.
Mr Biden’s endorsement of the aforementioned two-track approach will rob him of the leverage he has by way of sanctions. And the lifting of sanctions will give the IRGC a propaganda victory as well as the funds to purchase weapons and continue its expansionist projects.
Reassurances from the Biden administration are one thing. Practical policies are another. The countries receiving the US delegation this week should, therefore, insist that Washington present a detailed roadmap that includes timetables and instruments on tackling Iran’s multi-pronged foreign policy.
Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
