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Day: April 19, 2024
Following reports of alleged Israeli strikes inside Iran near a nuclear power station early Friday, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a new appeal to all parties to “stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East”.
“The Secretary-General condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the international community to work together to prevent any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond,” he said in a statement issued by his Office.
Echoing those concerns, UN atomic energy agency chief Rafael Grossi urged “extreme restraint” from all sides, after more than six and a half months of war in Gaza that have fuelled fears of a wider regional conflict.
“IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites” and Director-General Grossi “continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts”, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a tweet following unconfirmed media reports that possible drone strikes had targeted the Iranian province of Isfahan, which is home to nuclear facilities and military garrisons.
In Geneva, too, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, urged all parties “to take steps to de-escalate the situation” rapidly.
“(We) call on third States, in particular those with influence, to do all in their power to ensure there is no further deterioration in an already extremely precarious situation,” said OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Hunger and fear
In Gaza, aid teams offered new insight into the dangers faced by Palestinian civilians – particularly pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers – as a result of the “wanton destruction” of vital medical equipment and widespread “dehydration, malnutrition and fear” among Palestinians.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Dominic Allen, Representative for the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) for Palestine, said that there were indications that the number of complicated births is nearly twice what it was before war erupted.
“There is absolutely an increase in the numbers,” he said, adding that pre-war, around 15 per cent of births required some form of emergency obstetric care. Today, some doctors have reported “a doubling of what they previously had dealt with, and this is due to malnutrition, dehydration and fear,which impact the pregnant woman’s ability to give birth safely and carry their baby to full term safely,” the UNFPA official said.
‘Wanton destruction’
Mr. Allen described his latest mission to Gaza to assess the impact of Israeli attacks on healthcare at embattled hospitals in the north, central and southern governorates.
It was clear that the last remaining hospitals in the enclave – including its second largest, Nasser Hospital – are “clinging to life themselves whilst they are a lifeline for the pregnant women of Gaza”, Mr. Allen said via video link from Jerusalem. “What I saw, it breaks my heart…It’s indescribable. What we see there is medical equipment, purposefully broken, ultrasounds – which you will know is a very important tool for helping ensure safe births – with cables that have been cut, screens of complex medical equipment like ultrasounds and other with the screens smashed. So, purposeful, wanton destruction in the maternity ward.”
Before intense Israeli bombardment began in response to Hamas-led terror attacks across southern Israel on 7 October, Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis had a maternity ward which UNFPA teams have supported and supplied for years.
In order to be fully functional again, the hospital will need reconditioned water and sanitation services and repairs to damaged electricity generators, at a bare minimum. “But, I stood beside the warehouse (where) we delivered supplies many months ago and it was literally burning; there’s so much work to do in terms of trying to re-establish that lifeline,” Mr. Allen said.
‘Palpable’ fear
The UNFPA mission, which began on Monday 8 April and ended this Wednesday, was carried out in partnership with the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The objective was to visit around 10 hospitals in Gaza, among them Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, which was “overwhelmed with trauma patients” and not supporting maternity care.
At Emirati Hospital in the south of the enclave, Mr. Allen recounted meeting the medical director of the facility who said that “he no longer sees normal-sized babies.”
Turning to Rafah and continuing fears of an Israeli incursion, the UNFPA officer underscored the “great sense of fear” hanging over the more than 1.2 million people sheltering there.
“There is a palpable fear from the Gazans who I spoke with – the midwives, doctors, pregnant women, my fellow colleagues, who are in Gaza…Right now it’s a haven for 1.2 million Gazans; it’s not a safe haven, but it’s a haven at least.”
By Patsy Widakuswara
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday the United States was not involved in Israel’s predawn aerial strike inside Iran and declined to confirm reports that Washington was notified of Israeli plans shortly before the attack.
“The reports that you’ve seen, I’m not going to speak to that except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,” he said during a press conference following a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers in Capri, Italy.
The G7 is focused on avoiding a wider war in the region, he said.
“You saw Israel on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, but our focus has been on, of course, making sure that Israel can effectively defend itself, but also de-escalating tensions, avoiding conflict,” Blinken said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who chaired the G7 meeting, said the U.S. had told its G7 partners it received “last minute” information from Israel about its actions.
In the G7 communique, Blinken and other foreign ministers announced plans for new sanctions against Iran for its strikes against Israel and urged de-escalation. Tehran appears to be heeding for now.
Israel’s strikes appear to be in retaliation for the hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles launched at Israel on April 13. Most were intercepted with the help of the United States and regional allies, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, causing no loss of life and only little damage. That suggests Iran may have calibrated the strikes to limit casualties or telegraphed advanced notice, which the White House denies.
The early Friday attacks on Iran appear to be limited, with no casualties reported immediately.
U.S. President Joe Biden has been urging Israel to exercise restraint and avoid escalation following Iran’s attacks. His administration has been coordinating with allies and partners, including the G7 on a “comprehensive response.”
These could include new sanctions on Tehran and bolstered air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement earlier this week.
Iranian state media reported in the early hours of Friday local time that three explosions were heard in the Iranian city of Isfahan. Explosions were reported around the same time in Iraq and Syria.
Tehran said its April 13 attacks were in response to an Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. The bombing killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and other Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders. Israel neither confirms nor denies responsibility for the attack.
Analysts say Israel’s limited counterattack and Iran’s muted response show that both sides are willing to avoid further escalation, at least for now. Still, the risks of escalation are higher than ever before, said Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“The Iran-Israel shadow conflict has turned into a low-grade open war between the two countries,” he told VOA. “The Middle East is in unchartered territory.”
Israeli strikes expected
Despite U.S. pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some type of retaliatory strike by Israel was expected, said Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Middle East analyst from Gaza and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
The Biden administration understands that Israel needs to do its own version of “face saving” retaliation after Iran’s unprecedented and dramatic attacks last Saturday, he told VOA.
The party that could benefit most from any potential escalation is Hamas, said Alkhatib.
“The group has felt emboldened by Iran’s direct strikes on Israel, hardening its negotiating position in the latest cease-fire and hostage exchange talks facilitated by Qatar,” he said.
Biden so far has been unsuccessful in pushing for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Over the weekend the U.S.-designated terror group raised new demands that have thrown talks into disarray.
It’s unclear how the Israeli counterstrike on Iran could impact negotiation dynamics with Hamas.
“This is a moment of instability but also of opportunity,” said Laura Blumenfeld, a senior fellow at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.
“World leaders agree that the key to de-escalation is to free the hostages,” she told VOA. The message to Hamas hostage negotiators, she added, is “quit while you’re behind.”
(RFE/RL) — Israel’s military reportedly struck targets inside Iran in retaliation for an unprecedented air attack Tehran launched last weekend on its sworn enemy, but the limited scope of the operation and a muted Iranian response appeared to indicate an escalation of the conflict had been avoided.
Explosions were heard early on April 19 — the 85th birthday of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — near the central city of Isfahan, with reports unclear over the cause.
Several major U.S. media organizations, all citing U.S. government sources, said Israel launched a missile or drones to strike targets inside Iran.
Video posted on social media and broadcast around the world showed several large explosions that were reportedly near Isfahan.
Iranian state media quoted officials in Tehran as saying the explosions were caused by air defenses that shot down three drones in the area of Isfahan.
Hossein Deliriyan, the spokesman for Iran’s National Center for Cyberspace, refuted the U.S. media reports, saying in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that “there has been no air attack from outside the borders on Isfahan or other parts of the country.”
Speaking at a mosque on April 19, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi didn’t mention the attack near Isfahan and with the Israeli retaliation limited in size and scope, experts said it appeared it was aimed at deescalating soaring tensions while still sending a clear message to Tehran.
Reuters quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying that Tehran “has no plan to strike back immediately.”
Tehran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in the early morning hours of April 14, almost all of which were shot down by Israeli defense systems, along with intercepts by forces from the United States, France, Britain, and Jordan.
The attack by Tehran had been widely anticipated in Israel following a suspected Israeli air strike on the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, on April 1 that killed two brigadier generals.
Since then, diplomats and politicians around the world, fearing another major escalation of fighting in the Middle East, had urged restraint as they awaited Israel’s response.
According to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Washington informed the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations that it had received word from Israel on the strikes at the “last minute,” but “there was no sharing of the attack by the U.S. It was a mere information.”
“I’m not going to speak to that [the suspected Israeli attack] except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a G7 ministerial meeting on the Italian island of Capri.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said air defenses fired from a large air base in Isfahan that is home to Iran’s aging fleet of U.S.-made F-14 Tomcats acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Isfahan also houses facilities that are part of Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had seen no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites. Earlier this week, the sites were rumored to be a possible target if Israel launched a strike inside Iran.
One of Iran’s top nuclear facilities, the installation at Natanz, is located in central Isfahan. Such sites have seen several sabotage attacks that Tehran has blamed on Israel.
“IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Director-General Rafael Grossi continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts. IAEA is monitoring the situation very closely.”
Israeli strikes targeting a Syrian Army position in the country’s south were also reported on April 19.
According to AFP, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes, which he attributed to Israel, “targeted a radar installation of the Syrian Army” between the provinces of Sweida and Daraa provinces.
Raisi had warned earlier this week that Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its territory and the limited scope of the reported Israeli attack appeared to heed U.S. President Joe Biden’s comment to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should show restraint with any response and instead “take the win” since the Iranian attack didn’t have a great impact.
“It is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable and that all sides refrain from further action,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Finland on April 19.
Inside Israel, some hawkish lawmakers appeared to acknowledge the strike while criticizing it.
“Feeble,” wrote hard-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givir in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies for decades but Iran’s was the first direct attack by one on the other’s soil instead of through proxy forces or by targeting each other’s assets operating in third countries.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg chaired a virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of defence ministers on Friday (19 April 2024), to address Ukraine’s urgent need for air defences and other military aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefed Allies on the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine’s urgent needs.
After the meeting, Mr Stoltenberg said that Allies had agreed to provide further military support, including more air defences: “NATO has mapped out existing capabilities across the Alliance and there are systems that could be made available to Ukraine,” he said, adding that he expects new announcements on air defence capabilities for Ukraine soon. The ministers also addressed Ukraine’s need for more artillery shells, deep precision strike capabilities, and drones.
Mr Stoltenberg welcomed the recent additional support from Allies to Ukraine, including Germany’s decision to deliver an additional Patriot to Ukraine; an additional 4 billion euros in military support from the Netherlands; Czechia’s ammunition initiative; and new pledges from Denmark and Norway. The Secretary General also welcomed plans by the US House of Representatives to schedule a vote on a critical aid package for Ukraine. “I count on the bill to pass without further delay,” he said. He underscored that all Allies must “dig deep into their inventories and speed up the delivery of missiles, artillery and ammunition.”
Mr Stoltenberg underlined that “Ukraine is using the weapons we provide to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer. So support to Ukraine is not charity. It is an investment in our security.”
Splits in parties, their lacklustre leadership and the absence of burning domestic or international issues combine to make the April 21 parliamentary elections a tame affair
The Maldivian parliamentary elections due to be held on April 21 differ from those held in the recent past in a striking way. This time around, there is no party or leader that the voters can bet on.
Parties in the fray have either split or are faction-ridden. There are no towering leaders who can set appealing agendas and inspire voters to support them. There are no over-riding issues firing the imagination of the people and stirring political action.
Observers say that there is ennui among the voters, a palpable sense of fatigue, as successive governments have failed to give the people a stable, well-thought-out and realistic policies.
Dr. Mohamad Muizzu won the Maldivian Presidency in October 2023 convincingly on a platform promising to throw off the yoke of Indian domination and look to China for support. But he has been unable to translate his ideas into action.
Months after this stinging statements against India, Muizzu had to eat his words, seek Indian economic cooperation and woo Indian tourists, who were boycotting Maldives because of his pro-China tilt and his vituperative comments on India.
No doubt, Maldivians did not like the Indian military presence (or for that matter any foreign military presence) in their midst. They supported Muizzu’s call for the removal of the Indian military. But they did not approve of his call for the wholesale alienation of India and casting the lot entirely with China.
The Maldivians have close historical and people-to-people ties with India, a kind of relationship they do not have with China or the Chinese. Maldivians highly appreciate the way the Chinese execute the projects they undertake, but they have little to share with the Chinese as a people or as a culture.
Political Splits
Muizzu’s party, the Peoples’ National Congress (PNC) is a breakaway group of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) headed by former President Abdulla Yameen. Nevertheless, the two of them had formed an alliance to fight the October 2023 Presidential election.
However, after Muizzu won the Presidential election, the PPM split from the PNC on the grounds that Muizzu did not keep the promises he made to Yameen. One of the key promises was that Muizzu would give Yameen relief from the corruption cases filed against him by the Ibrahim Solih government (2018-2023). The Criminal Court had sentenced him to 11-year’s imprisonment and he was kept under arrest.
Subsequently, Yameen formed his own party called Peoples’ National Front (PNF).
On April 18, the Maldives High Court released Yameen from the 11-year sentence he had been serving but it also asked the Criminal Court to try him again because the procedures it had followed earlier were flawed.
In his utterances after the High Court verdict, Yameen blamed President Muizzu for the way his trial was conducted
Government Candidates
President Muizzu is said to be forming his own clique in the PNC by putting up candidates against the official PNC candidates in the coming elections. These are identified as “government candidates”. The “government candidates” hope to get votes on the grounds that they are the “President’s men.”
As on date, the main party in the Maldivian parliament is the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). The MDP also underwent a split, with one group being under former President Ibrahmi Solih and the other led by former parliament Speaker and former President Mohamad Nasheed.
Before the October 2023 Presidential election, Nasheed left and formed a group called the “Democrats”. The relationship between the two outfits varies from time to time. The cooperate on some matters and go their own way in others.
Nasheed’s grievance against Solih was that the latter did not carry out the promises he had made to Nasheed when he became President. Solih had promised to change the Presidential system to a parliamentary system and go after the Islamic radicals. But Solih did neither. There was even a rumour that Solih did not do enough to punish the Islamic radicals who tried to assassinate him and curb Islamic radicals.
As for now, Solih is campaigning hard against Muizzu’s PNC. But Nasheed has made himself scarce in the Maldives leaving his group, the Democrats, in the lurch.
As of now, the MDP led by Solih has 65 out of 87 seats in parliament; the PPM has 8; PNC 8; Jumhuri Party (JP) 5; and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) 2.
Since all parties are split, no party has a decisive advantage over others in the coming elections. A hung parliament is on the cards. This could either strengthen or weaken President Muizzu. He could engineer defections and tide over crises. But for that, he needs political acumen, firmness and a set of well thought out policies. But he is known to be impetuous.
India and China
Muizzu is now seeking the help of both China and India to build the Maldives. Both are ready to help him and have pumped a lot of money. But both attach strings to give their aid, and these are aimed at gaining asymmetrical strategic advantages. China wants to penetrate the Indian Ocean and exploit its resources with influence in the Maldives, while India wants to assert its right over the Maldives as the principal power in the Indian Ocean.
Both India and China are executing massive infrastructure projects in the Maldives costing millions of dollars. But these could land the Maldives in a debt trap.
In a report dated October 2023, the World Bank warned that further cosying up to China could spell trouble for the Maldives since the US$ 1.37 billion it already owed to Beijing represented 20% of its total public debt. China is the Maldives’ biggest bilateral creditor, ahead of Saudi Arabia and India, to which it owes US $ 124m and US$ 123m, respectively, the Bank said.
India’s relations with the Maldives have been strained, especially since Muizzu campaigned for the Presidency on an “India Out” platform. But after a bumpy start, Muizzu and India agreed to cooperate after India said it would replace its military personnel with civilians in the medical evacuation project.
India set aside INR 770 crores (US$ 92 million) for the Maldives in its 2024-25 budget. On April 5, India allowed the export of certain quantities of essential commodities for the year 2024-25 at the request of the Maldives government. But on April 16, the Indian government announced that these items could be exported only from the designated ports of Mundra, Tuticorin, Nhava Sheva and the Inland Container Depot at Tughlakabad.
This is not due to any tension in bilateral relations, as it was reported, but because of the shortages of these essential commodities in India itself.
Immediately after taking charge as President, Muizzu went to Beijing and signed 20 MoUs with China, including one on a strategic partnership and joint exploitation of the Blue Economy. They also resolved to implement the Free Trade Agreement.
Therefore, the Sino-Indian competition for the hand of the Maldivians is on in right earnest. And sources hint that two countries could also be doing their bit to help their friends out in the elections.