Region

MOSCOW — The leaders of Russia and Turkey said on Tuesday they shared deep concerns over fighting in northwestern Syria, with Ankara warning it would take the steps necessary to protect its troops there.

After meeting for talks near Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they hoped to work together to ease tensions in Idlib province.

Russian-backed government forces launched a ground offensive this month against Idlib, one of the last major areas of Syria outside government hands.

The fighting is threatening to increase tensions between Russia and Iran, who back President Bashar Assad’s regime, and Turkey which supports some rebel groups.

“The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone is of serious concern to us and our Turkish partners,” Putin said at a press conference with Erdogan carried on Russian state television.

He said Turkey had “legitimate interests” to protect on its southern borders and supported the creation of a security zone in the area.

Putin said he and Erdogan had agreed “additional joint steps” to “normalise” the situation in Idlib, but did not provide details.

Moscow and Ankara last year struck a deal to create a “de-escalation” buffer zone around Idlib to avert a full-scale regime assault.

But Assad’s forces have been bombarding the province for months and on August 8 launched a ground offensive.

Turkey established 12 military observation posts in Idlib under the buffer zone deal and one of them has been encircled by Syrian government forces.

‘Our troops 

are in danger’ 

“The situation [in Idlib] has become so complicated that at this moment our troops are in danger,” Erdogan said.

“We do not want this to continue. All necessary steps will be taken here as needed.”

Tuesday’s talks between Putin and Erdogan came ahead of a summit on Syria that will see the two leaders joined by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in Ankara on September 16.

Erdogan said the September meeting “should contribute to peace in the region”.

Both leaders said they supported Syria’s territorial integrity, but Putin emphasised the need to keep fighting forces in Idlib.

“Terrorists continue shelling the positions of Syrian government forces, trying to attack Russian military installations,” Putin said. 

“The de-escalation zone must not serve as a refuge for militants, let alone a bridgehead for new attacks.”

Idlib is dominated by terrorist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the former Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

Recent fighting has been fierce in the province, the last major front in a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since 2011.

On Tuesday, clashes between anti-government fighters and regime forces in northwestern Syria killed 51 combattants on both sides, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

Putin and Erdogan met on the sidelines of the MAKS international air show on the outskirts of Moscow — a showcase for Russia’s military and civil aerospace industry. 

The two leaders highlighted their increased cooperation, which saw Turkey begin taking delivery in July of Russian S-400 missile systems it ordered in defiance of warnings from Washington. 

Turkey’s defence ministry said the second stage of deliveries had begun on Tuesday and would last for a month.

Putin said he and Erdogan had discussed further military cooperation, including on Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet.

A move by NATO member Turkey to purchase Russian fighters would be sure to further anger Washington.

“We have many opportunities, we demonstrated new weapons systems and new electronic warfare systems,” Putin said. “In my opinion there was a lot of interest from our Turkish partners.”

TEHRAN — Relations between Tehran and Washington have spiralled since US President Donald Trump came to power and promptly quit the international deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, reimposing sweeping sanctions on the country.

Here is a recap.

‘Isolate’ Iran 

In a landmark address to Middle Eastern leaders in Saudi Arabia on May 21, 2017, just months after taking office, Trump urges nations to work together to isolate Iran “until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace”.

“From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region.”

The Iranian government, Trump claimed in an address to the United Nations on September 19, 2017, “has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos”.

Nuclear deal walkout 

Trump on May 8, 2018 pulls the US out of the nuclear pact between world powers and Iran, calling it “defective at its core”.

The move heralds the reinstatement of US sanctions on Iran and companies with ties to it. 

Washington warns other countries to end trade and investment in Iran and stop buying its oil, or face punitive measures.

On August 7, Washington reimposes a first set of sanctions that involve freezing financial transactions and imports of raw materials, as well as penalties on purchases in the car and commercial aviation industries.

A second wave of US sanctions comes into force on November 5, described by Washington as the “toughest” yet.

US drone shot down 

On June 20, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard say they shot down a US spy drone which allegedly violated Iranian airspace. The Pentagon denies the unmanned aircraft entered Iran’s airspace.

The next day Trump approves a retaliatory strike, but cancels it at the last minute.

On June 24 the US imposes “hard-hitting” financial sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian military leaders.

Enriched uranium 

Iran announces on July 1 that it has exceeded a limit on its enriched uranium reserves set by the nuclear deal.

On July 7, Iran announces it will begin enriching uranium to a level prohibited by the deal “in a few hours”.

Tehran also threatens to abandon more nuclear commitments in “60 days” unless a “solution” is found with the deal’s remaining parties.

A day later, Iran says it is enriching uranium to a level of at least 4.5 per cent.

Gulf tensions 

On July 18, Trump says the US military has taken down an Iranian drone that came dangerously close to one of its naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denies the claim.

On July 22, Iran says it has dismantled a CIA spy ring, arresting 17 suspects between March 2018 and March 2019 and sentencing some of them to death. Trump dismisses the claim as “totally false”.

Diplomatic push 

On August 25, Tehran’s top diplomat causes a stir at the G-7 summit in France by making an unscheduled appearance, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines. 

The next day Trump says he is prepared to meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani. 

“If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that,” says Trump, considering it realistic to hold such a meeting “in the next few weeks”.

On August 27, Rouhani calls on Washington to “take the first step” towards a such a meeting by lifting all sanctions against Iran.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates renewed a call on Monday for peace talks between Yemen's government and southern separatists, urging a ceasefire following deadly clashes.

The Yemeni government has previously insisted it would only take part in talks after separatist forces withdraw from positions they seized in interim capital Aden earlier this month.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi both technically back the internationally recognised government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in a four-year military intervention against Houthi rebels based in Yemen's north.

But the government has openly accused the UAE of backing forces loyal to the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The UAE-backed Security Belt force, dominated by STC loyalists, took control of Aden on August 10 following deadly clashes with government troops that left at least 40 people dead.

In a joint statement Monday, the Saudi and Emirati foreign ministries urged both sides to cooperate with a coalition committee and to attend talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

The two countries “call for the speedy engagement in the Jeddah dialogue called by Saudi Arabia to address the causes and consequences of developments in some southern provinces”, they said.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir also urged the two sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.

“The only way open to our brethren in Yemen is to overcome internal differences through the dialogue called for by the kingdom,” Jubeir tweeted on Monday.

He said Saudi Arabia and the UAE would spare no effort to achieve security and stability in southern Yemen.

Facing pressure from Saudi Arabia, the STC has partially withdrawn from some positions it occupied in Aden, but it retains control of key military sites. 

Fighting flared again between loyalists and secessionists on Thursday night in the southern province of Shabwa, leaving 11 dead according to medics.

Government military sources told AFP on Monday that government troops have taken control of the whole of Shabwa after separatists surrendered.

Yemen’s Prime Minister Mueen Abdulmalek made a surprise visit to provincial capital Ataq after the fighting, the official SABA news agency reported on Monday.

Later in the day, Yemen’s defence ministry ordered its troops in Aden, Abyan and Shabwa provinces to observe a complete ceasefire.

That came hours after the Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki Al Maliki urged all sides to observe a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the defence ministry reiterated accusations that the UAE was backing separatist attacks on government positions in several of southern provinces.

But in its statement, the coalition “rejected and condemned accusations and defamation campaigns” targeting the UAE, recalling the country’s efforts against the Houthis.

The STC is demanding renewed independence for South Yemen, which was a separate country before unification in 1990.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and most of the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, aid agencies say. 

The fightings has sparked what the United Nations labels the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

BAGHDAD — Iraq's top government officials met with leading members of the Hashed Al Shaabi on Monday after a purported Israeli strike on the paramilitary force that risks throwing the country into a proxy war.

Sunday's attack struck a position held by Brigade 45, a Hashed Al Shaabi unit based near Iraq's desertic western border with Syria, killing one fighter and severely wounding a second.

A string of suspicious incidents at Hashed bases over the last month have sparked concern of a possible confrontation between Iran, the US, and Israel on Iraqi soil — or in its airspace.

On Monday, Iraq's president Barham Saleh hosted the prime minister, speaker of parliament and Hashed top brass to discuss the instability. 

"These attacks are a blatant, hostile act that target Iraq," the presidency said in a statement, adding: "Iraqi sovereignty and the wellbeing of its people are a red line."

It stressed the government would take all necessary steps to "deter aggressors and defend Iraq", but did not threaten a military response.

Among the attendees were Hashed chief and national security adviser Faleh Fayyadh, the head of the powerful Badr Corps Hadi Al Ameri and the premier's chief of staff Mohammed Al Hashimi.

On Monday evening, the Hashed said it spotted another drone flying over one of its bases in the northern province of Nineveh.

"It was immediately dealt with using anti-aircraft weaponry. The drone left the area," the group said in a statement.

The incident is the seventh in a barrage of blasts and drone sightings at Hashed bases across Iraq since mid-July, for which no one has claimed responsibility.

The Iraqi government has investigated some of the incidents, blaming an unidentified drone for one and saying another was a "premeditated" act without accusing any side or publishing the probes' full results.

Iraq’s military spokesman Yehya Rasool told AFP on Monday the government had launched a new investigation into Sunday’s attack.

Asked what diplomatic action Iraq could take, the foreign ministry told AFP it would wait for official conclusions before resorting to the United Nations.

“If it was proven that a foreign entity was involved in these operations, we will take all steps — first among them, going to the Security Council and the United Nations,” spokesman Ahmad Sahhaf said Monday. 

The Hashed has already blamed the US and Israel for the spate of attacks, with Deputy Chief Abu Mehdi Al Muhandis unequivocally pointing the finger at Washington last week. 

Sunday’s attack was the first time the Hashed directly accused Israel, saying two Israeli drones targeted the Brigade 45 position near Al Qaim with US air cover. 

The attack killed Kazem Mohsen, Brigade 45’s “logistical support chief” who was mourned at a funeral procession in Baghdad on Monday.

At the memorial, Ahmad Al Assadi, a lawmaker and spokesman for the Hashed’s parliamentary bloc “Fatah”, said parliament could hold an emergency meeting to discuss the issue in the coming days.

Fatah had earlier condemned the attack, calling it “a declaration of war on Iraq, its people and its national sovereignty”. 

‘Seen as weak’ 

The Hashed was established in 2014 from disparate armed groups and volunteers to fight Daesh, which had swept through a third of Iraqi territory.

It operates officially under Iraq’s armed forces, but the US and Israel fear some units are an extension of their arch-foe Iran.

The US has been implementing a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran since withdrawing from the landmark nuclear deal last year.

That has squeezed Baghdad, which has sought to balance between its political ally Washington and its eastern neighbour Tehran.

A government source told AFP that attacks against the Hashed put Baghdad in an ever more difficult position.

“If we stay quiet, we will be seen as weak. If we speak up, some elements of the Hashed will interpret it as a green light to start a war,” the source said. 

The Pentagon has denied involvement in the attacks, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. 

Among Israel’s top fears is that Iran could transfer missiles to allies in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

It has admitted conducting several hundred bombing raids against Iranian forces and their allies in war-torn Syria, including this weekend near Damascus to prevent an alleged drone attack.

But it also stands accused of expanding its bombing campaign to Lebanon, where Hizbollah said a pair of drones targeted the Shiite movement’s Beirut stronghold early on Sunday.

And on Monday, a pro-Syrian Palestinian group accused Israel of carrying out a drone attack on one of its positions in east Lebanon.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's president on Monday said an Israeli drone attack on Beirut at the weekend was a "declaration of war" that justified a military response.

"What happened is a declaration of war," Michel Aoun told Jan Kubis, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, in a meeting.

"This allows us to resort to our right to defend our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity," he added, in a statement released by his office. 

The army said two Israeli drones had violated Lebanese airspace over Beirut before dawn on Sunday, with one exploding in the air. 

Hizbollah movement chief Hasan Nasrallah said an armed drone had hit a target in the party's Beirut stronghold, without specifying. 

It was the first such "hostile action" since a 2006 war between Hizbollah and Israel, added the head of the Iran-backed party, also vowing to retaliate. 

“I have repeatedly said before that Lebanon will not fire a single shot from its border unless it is in self-defence,” said Aoun. 

“What happened yesterday allows us to exercise this right,” he added.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli air strikes targeted a Palestinian faction loyal to the Syrian government in eastern Lebanon.

State-run NNA news agency said “three hostile strikes” after midnight hit Lebanon’s eastern mountains near Qusaya town “where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command has military posts”.

Aoun said Israeli attacks on Qusaya and Beirut violated a UN Security Council resolution ending the month-long 2006 war that killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel.

Lebanon had filed a complaint against Israel to the UN Security Council.

On Sunday, Nasrallah threatened Israel after the Beirut attack.

“The time when Israeli aircraft come and bombard parts of Lebanon is over,” he said in a televised speech. 

“I say to the Israeli army along the border, from tonight be ready and wait for us,” he added. “What happened yesterday will not pass.”

Hizbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States, is a major political actor in Lebanon and also a key government backer in war-torn Syria.

The latest incident also came after Israel on Saturday launched strikes in neighbouring Syria to prevent what it claimed was an Iranian attack on Israel.

Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hizbollah members were among those killed in the strike. They were laid to rest in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, amid a large turnout of party supporters.

BEIJING — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off his Asian tour in Beijing on Monday, presenting a 25-year plan to cement Iran’s ties with its biggest Asian trading partner amid biting US sanctions.

Zarif’s Asian tour — which also includes stopovers in Japan and Malaysia — comes fresh on the heels of a surprise visit to the G-7 summit in France over the weekend.

The summit in Biarritz saw a dramatic shift of focus when Zarif flew in at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the diplomatic deadlock on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.

Iran’s top diplomat did not meet US President Donald Trump, French diplomats said, but the presence of the two men in the same place at least sparked hopes of detente. 

Zarif was a key architect of the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran, the United States, European powers, Russia and China. 

In Beijing, Zarif met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and said the pair had discussed a 25-year road map to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

China has continued to purchase Iranian crude despite sanctions.

“We reject actions of interference by others in the affairs of progressive countries including Iran and China,” China’s foreign minister told reporters after the meeting with Zarif.

“We have stood together in dealing with these interventions and interferences and rejecting them as a major threat to international peace and security and friendly relations among countries.”

Trump’s policy of applying “maximum pressure” on Tehran via crippling sanctions has been criticised by European powers and China and is seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

In July, the US government imposed heavy sanctions seeking to hamper Zarif’s travel, and effectively banning him from the United States.

Zarif tweeted that he was heading to Japan and Malaysia in the next leg of his Asian tour without offering details.