Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)

Senior US official says Iran protests ‘most serious’ since 1979


Joyce Karam
  • English
  • Arabic

The protests in Iran are the most serious display of unrest in the country since the current regime came to power in 1979, a senior US official said on Friday.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Barbara Leaf said the demonstrations that began in mid-September present a serious challenge to the regime.

“It's certainly by any judgment the most serious unrest of an organic nature that the regime has seen since the revolution,” Ms Leaf said during an event at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington.

Protests erupted across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody. In confronting the protests, Tehran has resorted to violence, intimidation and mass arrests but has not been able to silence dissent.

She assessed that “the regime has a very difficult time understanding or contending with [the protests]".

Human rights organisations have estimated that more than 200 protesters have been killed in the crackdown by security forces and hundreds have been detained.

But Ms Leaf said that the worst may still be to come.

“The Iranian regime has not turned on the worst of its security forces yet on the public — it can still do worse,” she said.

The US official reiterated that Washington’s attention is solely focused on the protests and not on reviving the Iran nuclear deal.

“Our focus is on calling out and supporting [and] lifting up the voices of Iranian women and others who support them in their quest,” she said.

Talks over the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed between Iran and world powers in 2015 to place limits on Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, have stalled and western officials are not optimistic over the deal's future.

Asked about Lebanon and the power vacuum that has developed following the resignation of former president Michel Aoun, Ms Leaf said the administration of US President Joe Biden has prepared for a set of chaotic scenarios that could unfold.

“I can see a scenario where there is disintegration, that [would be] the worst, where there's just an unravelling,” she said.

Stopgap measures such as payments the US has made to the country's armed forces may not be enough in such an event.

“They lose control of things. There's mass migrations … and I somehow imagine a lot of the same parliamentarians packing their bags and going off to places in Europe or elsewhere where they have property,” she said.

But the US official framed that as the worst-case scenario and that there are many in between that could occur before the parliament agrees on a new president.

“Things will have to get worse before the public pressure mounts in such a way that they feel that we are putting pressure directly on political leaders to do their work,” she said.

Ms Leaf, who recently completed a trip to the Gulf, expected a bigger assisting role for Saudi Arabia in Lebanon to mitigate the crisis.

“At different intervals, the Saudis stepped back but I think they will step back in,” she said.

On the maritime deal between Lebanon and Israel, Ms Leaf did not expect Israel's new prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw from it, which he has threatened to do in the past.

“Hopefully”, she said, the new Israeli leader will not scupper the historic deal that defined the maritime border between the two countries, which are technically at war.

Israel elections 2022 — in pictures

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Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

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Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.

The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.

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Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Tathoor, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
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6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
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7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
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Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

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Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Race card

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4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m

5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m

5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m

6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m

6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m

7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m

The National selections:

4pm Zabardast

4.35pm Ibn Malik

5.10pm Space Blues

5.45pm Kimbear

6.20pm Barney Roy

6.55pm Matterhorn

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Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

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Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

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 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

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Updated: November 05, 2022, 6:32 AM`