Region

TEHRAN — Iran's Revolutionary Guards Thursday praised the armed forces for taking "timely" action against "rioters" and suggested calm had been restored after days of unrest sparked by a hike in petrol prices.

Authorities vowed to arrest leaders of the protests that erupted Friday, in which police stations were attacked, petrol pumps torched and shops looted, and which Iran has blamed on a plot by foreign enemies.

While the Internet remained mostly blocked for a fifth day, state TV showed footage of what it said were pro-government rallies to celebrate the defeat of the "conspiracy".

Crowds in cities including Qom and Isfahan chanted "death to seditionists, death to America" and "the blood in our veins is a gift to our leader".

In the days of unrest, "incidents, big and small, caused by the rise in petrol price took place in [a little] less than 100 cities across Iran," said a statement on the guards' official website Sepahnews.com.

It said the "incidents were ended in less than 24 hours and in some cities in 72 hours" as a result of the "armed forces' insight and timely action".

Protest leaders were arrested in the province of Tehran and Alborz as well as in the southern city of Shiraz, it added.

The "arrest of the rioters' leaders has contributed significantly to calming the situation," it said.

Top Iranian security official, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, vowed that “every single one of the rioters, wherever in Iran they may be, will be identified and punished”.

“Enemies wanted to exploit the Iranian nation’s protest regarding livelihood issues but failed due to the people’s vigilance,” Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

A “retired employee of Iran’s embassy in Denmark” was arrested for “blocking” a main Tehran highway, judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, told state TV.

The state broadcaster aired the confessions of a woman named Fatemeh Davand who said she was “one of the leaders’ of riots” in northwestern Iran and had links to “anti-revolutionary groups in a neighbouring country”.

Iran’s neighbour Iraq has been hit by weeks of anti-government protests, with demonstrators voicing resentment against what they describe as Tehran’s meddling in their country.

The full extent of the bloodshed in Iran remained difficult to ascertain given the near-total Internet restriction.

Officials have confirmed five deaths — four security personnel and a civilian.

The UN’s human rights office has said it was alarmed by reports that live ammunition had caused a “significant number of deaths”.

Amnesty International said more than 100 demonstrators were believed to have been killed and that the real toll could be as high as 200.

Iran’s mission to the UN disputed the Amnesty toll, tweeting that figures “not confirmed by the government are speculative” and in many cases a “disinformation campaign waged against Iran”.

The European Union urged Iran to show “maximum restraint” in handling protests.

Tehran replied by accusing the EU of interference and asking it “to explain why it doesn’t keep its promises” to help the Islamic republic bypass US sanctions that have plunged Iran’s economy into recession. 

Iran’s Ambassador to Britain Hamid Baeidinejad described those who attacked public property as “organised armed rioters”, adding in a tweet that they had planned to “sabotage the national phone system”.

Cash handouts 

Iran as of Monday started paying out cash handouts as part of its “livelihood support plan” to 40 million people, with 20 million more set to be paid on Saturday, local media said.

Monthly handouts — ranging from 550,000 rials ($4.64) for individuals to slightly more than 2 million rials ($17) for families of five and more — are to be financed via revenues generated from cutting petrol subsidies.

On Tehran streets people complained of economic hardships.

“Our income has not increased at all but costs have tripled or quadrupled,” Ehsan, a lawyer, told AFP. “If it continues as is it will be really hard to manage livings costs.”

Iran has experienced a sharp economic downturn this year, fuelled in part by US sanctions, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing and hiking the prices of imports.

The internet blackout remained largely in effect on Thursday, with Iranians abroad tweeting hashtags like #Internet4Iran and calling for an end to the outage.

The national security council made the decision to pull the plug on Internet access, said semi-official news agency ISNA.

The telecommunications minister said the outage caused a “90 per cent drop in transactions” in some businesses, while some firms dealing with foreign partners had to temporarily shut down.

Reformist MP Ali Motahari argued that “continuing the internet blackout is not necessary, since calm has returned to the country”, adding that the parliament would “react” if the outage continues.

ISNA said Internet access and connectivity via ADSL had been partially restored in some provinces and for some universities in Tehran.

Netblocks, a website that monitors net shudowns, confirmed in a tweet that Iran’s “connectivity is being restored, although only partially”. 

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel's attorney general indicted Benjamin Netanyahu on a range of corruption charges Thursday, the justice ministry announced, potentially spelling an end to the prime minister's decades-long political career.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit "decided to file charges against the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for offences of receiving a bribe, fraud and breach of trust", a ministry statement said.

Netanyahu, who strongly denies all the charges, becomes the first Israeli prime minister to be indicted while in office.

Rightwinger Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009, is Israel's longest-serving prime minister and dominates the country's political scene.

The indictment comes as Israel faces a potential third election in a year, with neither Netanyahu nor his main rival able to form a government after deadlocked elections in September.

Netanyahu is not legally required to resign until he is convicted and all appeals are exhausted, but political pressure is likely to be intense.

A close ally of US President Donald Trump, the 70-year-old may now ask the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, to grant him immunity from prosecution.

The justice ministry statement said copies of the charge sheet had been sent to both Netanyahu’s lawyers and the Knesset.

The charges against him range from receiving gifts worth thousands of dollars to a deal to change regulatory frameworks in favour of a media group in exchange for positive coverage.

Mandelblit is due to give a public statement, with Netanyahu expected to respond.

Netanyahu has outlived most political rivals and Hugh Lovatt, Israel-Palestine analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the indictment may still not be “the end of the story”.

“Israel will now have to brace for a political roller-coaster ride over the coming months. Now more than ever Netanyahu will be fighting for his political and personal life.”

What are the allegations?

In February, Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Netanyahu on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, following up on police recommendations.

In May he extended until October a deadline for Netanyahu’s pre-indictment hearing but rejected a request for a 12-month delay.

Netanyahu has vehemently denied all the allegations, calling the corruption investigation a “witch-hunt” and alleging it has been motivated by his enemies’ desire to force him from office.

Of the investigations against Netanyahu, the third, known as Case 4,000, is seen as the most serious.

He is alleged to have negotiated with Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israeli telecommunications giant Bezeq, to get positive coverage on his Walla! news site in exchange for policies benefiting Bezeq.

Mandelblit said in February he intended to indict Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in this case.

Case 1,000 involves allegations Netanyahu and his family received gifts including luxury cigars, champagne and jewellery from wealthy individuals, estimated to be worth more than 700,000 shekels ($200,000, 185,000 euros), in exchange for financial or personal favours.

Another case, known as Case 2000, concerns allegations Netanyahu sought a deal with the owner of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper that would have seen it give him more favourable coverage.

‘Weaker hand’ 

The decision is expected to have a wide-reaching impact not just on the embattled leader but on Israeli politics in general, as the country has been without a government for nearly a year due to political infighting.

Neither Netanyahu nor his centrist rival Benny Gantz have been able to form a coalition government following deadlocked elections in September, with the country edging closer to a third election within 12 months.

Earlier on Thursday Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin turned to the country’s parliament in the hope of avoiding a third election in 12 months.

Following the near neck-and-neck polls in September Netanyahu and Gantz were given four weeks each to try and form a new government.

Netanyahu, head of the Likud Party, was given first go but failed. And Gantz, who leads the Blue and White coalition, admitted defeat late on Wednesday after a similar period.

Rivlin has now given parliament 21 days to find a candidate who can command the support of the majority of the country’s 120 MPs.

Gantz reportedly tried to woo MP’s from Netanyahu’s Likud Party to join him in a broad national unity government, but there were no takers during the long and ultimately fruitless coalition negotiations following the September election.

Ofer Zalzberg, analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank, said Netanyahu would be severely weakened by Mandelblit’s announcement.

“Netanyahu has a weaker hand for the coming 20 days so may agree to compromises towards Blue and White he so far ruled out,” he said.

Netanyahu could now face internal threats from within his Likud Party, Zalzberg added.

DAKHLA, Western Sahara — In the Oued Eddahab desert in Western Sahara, Habiboullah Dlimi raises dairy and racing camels just like his ancestors used to — but with a little help from modern technology.

His animals roam free in the desert and are milked as camels always have been, by hand, at dawn and dusk.

When camels “feed on wild plants and walk all day, the milk is much better”, said the 59-year-old herder, rhapsodising about the benefits of the nutrient-rich drink, known as the “source of life” for nomads.

But Dlimi no longer lives with his flock.

He lives in town with his family. His camels are watched over by hired herders and Dlimi follows GPS coordinates across the desert in a 4X4 vehicle to reach them.

He is reticent when asked about the size of his herd. “That would bring bad luck,” he said.

He prefers to speak of the gentleness and friendliness of the animals he knows like his own children.

“Camels can endure everything: Sun, wind, sand and lack of water, and if they could talk, you’d easily hear how intelligent they are,” he said.

Dlimi comes from a long line of desert dwellers from the Ouled Dlimi tribe.

As tradition dictates, he lists his ancestors going back five generations when introducing himself.

“I know the desert and the desert knows me,” he said.

Like elsewhere, the nomads of Western Sahara are settling, following a shift from rural to urban living.

“Young people prefer to stay in town,” Dlimi said, and herders now mostly come from neighbouring Mauritania, whose desert north is traversed by caravans of up to a thousand camels.

Even they “often demand to work in areas covered by [mobile phone] network signal”, he added.

The population of the nearby town of Dakhla has tripled to 100,000 in 20 years, with growth driven by fishing, tourism and greenhouse farming encouraged by Morocco.

In this part of Western Sahara, development projects depend entirely on Rabat.

Tribal affiliation trumps politics, though.

“Tribes are tribes, it’s a social organisation,” he said. “There are very strong links between us.”

To “preserve the past for the future”, Dlimi started a cultural association to conserve traditions from a time when there were no borders and “families followed the herds and the clouds”.

While Dlimi loves the desert, he does have one complaint: “The camel dairy industry is valued everywhere in the world except here.”

Camel milk is trendy with health-conscious consumers and the lean meat is excellent, Dlimi claims.

Today though, it is small livestock farming that is the main agricultural focus, in response to what non-nomadic Moroccans tend to eat.

The 266,000 sq.km. of Western Sahara under Moroccan control hosts some 6,000 herders, 105,000 camels and 560,000 sheep and goats, according to figures from Rabat.

In other arid countries, including Saudi Arabia, intensive farming of camels has taken off.

But, while Moroccan authorities have undertaken several studies into developing Western Sahara’s camel industry, these have not so far been acted upon.

European members of the UN Security Council hit out Wednesday at the US decision to no longer consider Israeli settlements illegal, but stopped short of naming the US, Agence France-Presse reported. 

Also on Wednesday, UN Security Council members rebuked the US’ shift in policy regarding the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, stressing it a violation of international law and a threat to the two-state solution, according to media reports. 

"Our position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, is clear and remains unchanged", Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland said in a joint statement. 

"All settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace."

“We call on Israel to end all settlement activity in line with its obligations as an occupying power,” they added before a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Israeli settlements were “not, per se, inconsistent with international law,” breaking with UN Security Council resolutions declaring the settlements to be illegal as they are built on occupied Palestinian land. 

The policy shift was welcomed by Israel but it puts the US at odds with virtually the whole of the rest of the international community. 

Courts in Israel have declared most major settlements legal. 

More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, alongside more than three million Palestinians. 

The settlements remain one of the thorniest issues in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Vatican reiterates two-state solution

Meanwhile, the Vatican spoke out on Wednesday against the US decision to no longer consider Israeli settlements illegal, joining stiff international criticism of the policy reversal, AFP reported.

Without naming the US, the Holy See said in a statement that “recent decisions... risk undermining further the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the already fragile regional stability”.

“The Holy See reiterates its position of a two-state solution for two peoples, as the only way to reach a complete solution to this age-old conflict,” the Vatican said. 

The Holy See said it supported Israel’s right to live in peace and security within the borders that are recognised by the international community, and supported “the same right that belongs to the Palestinian people, which must be recognised, respected and implemented”.

Pope Francis, who arrived on Wednesday in Thailand ahead of a visit to Japan, has not himself directly addressed the issue.

Arab League to meet

The Arab League said it is to hold an urgent meeting Monday on the US announcement.

Hossam Zaki, the pan-Arab body’s deputy secretary general, said several members had backed a Palestinian Authority call for a ministerial meeting.
The PA’s permanent representative to the Arab League has condemned Washington’s change of position as “illegal”.

The Cairo-based Arab League has said the US shift was an “extremely adverse development”, AFP reported

Palestinian organisations closed

Israeli authorities closed several Palestinian organisations in Jerusalem Wednesday, including a television channel, AFP reported quoting Israeli minister and officials from the organisations.

The offices of Palestine TV — a channel funded by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority — and an office of the Palestinian ministry of education were given orders to close for six months, staff members said on condition of anonymity.

The director of Al Araz production company that hosts Palestine TV was temporarily arrested, while a correspondent for the channel was summoned for questioning, these Palestinian sources said.

Israel’s Public Security minister Gilad Erdan confirmed the closure of offices used by Palestine TV and the education ministry.

The Palestinians condemned the closures.

“This is a continuation of the Israeli government’s campaign against everything Palestinian in occupied Jerusalem,” senior official Hanan Ashrawi said.

MADA, a Palestinian organisation that defends freedom of expression, said the closures were “part of Israel’s efforts to silence the media and prevent the Palestinian story from spreading, through a series of repressions against the media and journalists.”

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel said its warplanes carried out a "very intense" attack against Iranian forces and Syrian army targets in Syria Wednesday, in raids a monitoring group reported killed at least 23 people. 

In a rare confirmation of their operations in Syria, the Israeli police said they had carried out dozens of strikes against the Iranian elite Quds Force and the Syrian military, in response to four rockets fired at Israel a day before.

Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 23 people were killed in the strikes — 21 fighters and two civilians.

Sixteen were non-Syrian fighters, the group's head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Iran has fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in the country’s eight-year civil war, heightening Israeli concern over the presence of its arch foe along its border.

“Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

“This is what we did overnight vis-a-vis military targets of the Iranian Quds Force and Syrian military targets in Syria after a barrage of rockets was launched at Israel.”

The Israeli army said they had targeted about a dozen military sites, including warehouses and military command centres.

“It was very intense,” spokesman Jonathan Conricus told AFP.

The most important target, he said, was a control facility at the main international airport in Damascus.

“It is the main building that serves the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards... for coordinating the logistic facilities of transport of military hardware from Iran to Syria and from Syria onwards,” he said.

‘Heavy attack’ 

Israel has carried out frequent air and missile strikes against Iranian targets inside Syria since the country descended into civil war in 2011, but rarely comments on them.

On Tuesday, four rockets were fired at Israel from Syria, with the army blaming an “Iranian force”.

Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted the rockets.

Conricus said it was the sixth time Iranian forces had tried to attack Israel directly in recent years, most recently in August.

The Israeli attack on Wednesday began in the early hours, with a series of large explosions rocking Damascus, an AFP correspondent in the city said.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said Syrian anti-aircraft defences responded to a “heavy attack” by Israeli warplanes over the capital.

The Israeli army confirmed missiles were fired towards its jets but denied any were hit.

In response to the fire, it said, “a number of Syrian aerial defence batteries were destroyed”.

“We hold the Syrian regime responsible for the actions that take place in Syrian territory and warn them against allowing further attacks against Israel,” the army said.

SANA added that the strikes were carried out from “Lebanese and Palestinian territories”. Israel sometimes launches attacks on Syria from planes flying over neighbouring Lebanon.

Syria’s civil war has been complicated by the involvement of multiple foreign powers, with Russian, Iranian and US forces on the ground backing various parties.

Russia, which has backed Assad’s regime militarily, condemned the Israeli attack.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying the operation “totally contradicts international law”.

“We are going to examine the circumstances, all this is very bad,” he added.

Flare-up 

The observatory said Tuesday’s rockets were fired from positions around the Syrian capital held by groups loyal to the Damascus government.

The flare-up follows a major escalation in and around the Palestinian enclave of Gaza last week when Israel killed a top commander of militant group Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Damascus.

The killing was accompanied by a second strike, unconfirmed by Israel, on an Islamic Jihad leader in Damascus that killed his son and another person, according to SANA.

The hundreds of strikes Israel has carried out in Syria have mostly been against Iranian targets or positions of Iran’s Lebanese ally, Shiite group Hizbollah.