Region

TEHRAN — Iran warned Britain's next prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday that it will "protect" waters of the oil-rich Gulf, amid a standoff between the two countries over the seizure of tankers.

In the face of rising hostilities with the United States, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday impounded a tanker sailing under the flag of US ally Britain.

The seizure of the Stena Impero has been seen as a tit-for-tat move after British authorities detained an Iranian tanker on July 4 in the Mediterranean on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.

"I congratulate my former counterpart, @BorisJohnson on becoming UK PM," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Tweeted after Johnson beat his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, in a vote by party members.

"Iran does not seek confrontation. But we have 1500 miles of Persian Gulf coastline. These are our waters and we will protect them."

Iran has impounded the Stena Impero at its port of Bandar Abbas for allegedly breaking "international maritime rules".

In new footage aired by Iranian state television, the crew of 18 Indians, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino are seen sitting around a table and seemingly going about their daily routines.

"Throughout history, Iran has been and will be the main guardian of security and free navigation" in the Gulf, President Hassan Rouhani said late Monday, adding that Tehran was not seeking to stoke tensions.

The head of Iran’s navy, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, said in an interview published Tuesday that his forces use drones to closely observe “all enemy ships” going through the Gulf, “especially America’s”.

Nuclear meeting 

Since the US began reimposing sanctions on Iran, tensions have mounted with drones shot down and tankers mysteriously attacked in sensitive Gulf waters.

At the height of the crisis, US President Donald Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone.

Iran also said Monday it had arrested 17 suspects and sentenced some to death after dismantling a CIA spy network — claims Trump dismissed as “totally false”.

Tehran has been at loggerheads with Washington and its allies since May 2018, when Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran said it would attend a meeting in Vienna this weekend with countries still party to the troubled accord.

The meeting was requested by the European parties to discuss the “new situation”, Iran said, referring to its reduced nuclear commitments under the deal in response to the US withdrawal.

The EU confirmed Iran would meet envoys from the remaining parties — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — on Sunday.

Tehran has already given up on complying with some of the deal’s limits on its nuclear programme in retaliation for the US withdrawal and what it sees as the failure of other parties to help it circumvent sanctions.

‘De-escalation’ 

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, travelled to France to deliver a message from Rouhani to his counterpart Emmanuel Macron, his ministry said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed he met the envoy who brought a message from Tehran.

“We are now pushing Iran back into the Vienna agreement,” he said, referring to the nuclear deal. 

“I met earlier with President Rouhani’s special envoy to tell him that,” Le Drian added.

The latest efforts come after Macron’s top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne visited Iran and met with senior officials earlier this month to “piece together a de-escalation” strategy.

The 2015 deal curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

But on May 8 — a year after the US withdrawal — Iran said it would disregard certain limits on the programme as it was not receiving any benefits.

Iran has threatened further measures if the remaining parties to the deal fail to help it circumvent US sanctions, especially to sell its oil.

It has since exceeded the deal’s limits on its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpiles, as well as passing a cap on its uranium enrichment.

The 4.5 per cent enrichment level it reached is well below the more than 90 per cent required for a nuclear warhead.

Iran has yet to specify what other steps it may take, and has repeatedly emphasised its actions can be reversed “within hours” if European partners deliver on commitments.

Meanwhile, China described as “illegal” US sanctions imposed on its companies as part of Washington’s campaign against Iran.

DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates has said it is not leaving Yemen despite a redeployment of its forces in the war-torn country, as Houthi rebels said they were ready to stop attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The UAE is a key partner in a Saudi-led military coalition which intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the internationally recognised government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

Earlier this month it said it was redeploying and reducing troops across Yemen and moving from a "military-first" strategy to a "peace-first" plan.

"Just to be clear, the UAE and the rest of the coalition are not leaving Yemen," UAE minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said in an op-ed published Monday in The Washington Post.

“While we will operate differently, our military presence will remain. In accordance with international law, we will continue to advise and assist local Yemen forces.”

Gargash said Houthis should see the UAE move as a “confidence-building measure to create new momentum to end the conflict”.

“As the United Arab Emirates draws down and redeploys its forces in Yemen, we do so in the same way we began — with eyes wide open”, he said. 

“There was no easy victory and there will be no easy peace. But now is the time to double down on the political process.” 

The warring sides have fought to a stalemate, and several rounds of UN-sponsored talks, the last held in Sweden in December, have failed to implement any deal to end the war.

‘Ready for talks’ 

Since 2015, tens of thousands of people — mostly civilians — have been killed in the conflict described by the United Nations as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has also seen the Houthis launch repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia, including at least 20 missile and drone strikes on the oil-rich kingdom in June alone.

Saudi advanced air defences successfully intercepted most of the strikes but failed to deal with some, including a drone attack on the vital airport of Abha, in the south, that killed one person and injured 21 others.

On Tuesday, the Houthis’ top political leader Mahdi Al Mashat said the group was ready to stop attacks on Saudi Arabia and engage in a dialogue with it but on certain conditions.

“[We] are fully prepared to stop missile and air strikes if the enemy takes similar measures and facilitates the flow of basic aid through ports, and then we can begin a political process,” he said, according to the Houthis’ SABA news agency.

He also denied that the Houthis were “puppets” of Iran.

Mashat made the comments during a visit to Sanaa by Robert Malley, president of the International Crisis Group consultancy and a former adviser to US ex-president Barack Obama.

The visit by an American and think tank head to the rebel-held Yemeni capital is notably rare.

Malley, in a Tweet, said he visited Sanaa as part of a trip that has already taken him to Aden, seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, as “part of our efforts to speak to all sides and help bring an end to the catastrophic Yemen war”.

DUBAI — From ballistic missiles to unmanned drones, Yemen's Houthi rebels appear to have bolstered their fighting capabilities, posing a serious threat to mighty neighbour Saudi Arabia.

In June alone, the Iran-aligned Shiite Houthis launched at least 20 missile and drone attacks on the oil-rich kingdom, Iran's regional foe, some resulting in casualties and damage.

Saudi advanced air defences successfully intercepted most of the strikes but failed to deal with some, including a drone attack on the vital airport of Abha, in the south, that killed one person and injured 21 others.

“We have witnessed a massive increase in capability on the side of the Houthis in recent years, particularly relating to ballistic missiles and drone technology,” Andreas Kreig, a professor at King's College London, told AFP.

“The current capability is far more advanced than anything the Yemeni armed forces had before the civil war,” which began in 2014, said Kreig, an expert on the Middle East.

The rebels showed off some of their advanced weaponry at an exhibition held earlier this month at an undisclosed location to mark the fifth anniversary of their offensive against the Yemeni government. 

Footage distributed by the Houthis showed models of at least 15 unmanned drones and various sizes of missiles of different ranges.

The newest of these weapons were long-range cruise missiles, dubbed “Al Quds”, and explosives-laden “Sammad 3” drones that can hit targets as far as 1,500 kilometres away, according to the Houthis.

‘Made in Yemen’ 

On the sides of the Sammad 3, the phrase “Unmanned Aircraft Force” is printed, while the cruise missile is marked “Made in Yemen” on its giant body.

AFP has not established from independent sources if these missiles and drones were manufactured in Yemen.

Since 2014, the Houthis have controlled the capital Sanaa and vast swathes of north, central and western Yemen.

Forces of the internationally-recognised government with the backing of a Saudi-led coalition have been trying to retake these territories.

The conflict has killed or wounded tens of thousands of people and resulted in the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations. 

Up until the end of 2018, the Houthis frequently used ballistic missiles they captured from Yemeni army depots to attack targets inside Saudi Arabia.

However, since the start of this year, they have shifted to Qasef 2 drones, a small booby-trapped aircraft that can evade radar detection, but whose range is unknown.

The most serious attack took place on May 14 when Houthis used seven drones to target two pumping stations on Saudi Arabia's key east-west pipeline, shutting it down for several days.

“This is the first time the Houthis have demonstrated an apparent capability to hit a target 800 kilometres in Saudi territory with UAVs [drones],” Jane's 360, a defence and security thinktank, said in May.

“The attack on the pumping stations highlights the persisting risk of Houthis targeting of hydrocarbon infrastructure in Jeddah, Yanbu, and potentially cities such as Riyadh,” said Jane's 360.

It said Saudi ports, military installations and airports were also at risk of further attacks.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia spent some $65 billion on arms purchases last year, becoming one of the five biggest defence spenders alongside the United States, China, India and France, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

‘Miracle’ 

A Yemeni army retired brigadier, Jamil Al Mamari, believes the “Houthis are not capable of manufacturing missiles in Yemen... They are only capable of assembling and modification”.

“Huthis keep modifying army missiles by boosting their explosive capability and adding remote control devices,” Mamari said.

Experts rule out the possibility that Houthis may have modified these arms on their own.

The rebels have also launched attacks with explosive-laden boats and tanks, heavy artillery and anti-tank missiles.

Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, believes Iran has had a hand in developing the Houthis' armaments.

The Houthis “have grown dependent on Iranian and Hezbollah support to maintain their current war posture”, Ibish told AFP.

“Their current war posture and their missile technology and capability are mainly the result of direct support from Iran and Hizbollah. So it's very difficult to untangle this knot,” he said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.

Tehran has also denied allegations by Riyadh that it had encouraged the Houthis to attack the kingdom.

The Houthis have repeatedly stressed their capability to manufacture arms and their leader Abdulmalek Al Houthi has said the development was “a miracle and a great result of steadfastness”.

BAGHDAD — Iraq on Tuesday began exhuming the remains of dozens of victims, including children, likely killed during Saddam Hussein's campaign against the country's Kurds, a forensics official told AFP.

The mass grave was uncovered in Tal Al Sheikhiya, about 300 kilometres south of Baghdad, said Zaid Al Youssef, the head of Baghdad's Medico-Legal Directorate which is tasked with identifying the remains.

Those remains were recovered from the surface layer of the site, he said, but “there could be a second deeper layer” with additional bodies.

“The evidence collected indicates they were summarily executed in 1988,” said Youssef, which coincides with Saddam's brutal “Anfal” campaign against Iraq's Kurds.

The operation took place between 1987 and 1988 and saw nearly 180,000 Kurds killed and more than 3,000 villages destroyed.

“The female victims were blindfolded and killed by gunshots to the head, but also have traces on various parts of their bodies of bullets that were fired randomly," Youssef said.

The grave lies in the southern province of Mutahanna, also home to the notorious Nigrat Salman prison camp.

Many Kurds and political opponents of the previous regime were held there, and survivors shared tales of humiliaa

Iraq has been hit by wave after wave of conflict in recent decades, culminating in the fight against the Daesh group which ended in late 2017.

Those years of conflict left grave sites all across the country where the remains of thousands of victims from Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious communities have been uncovered.

Daesh alone left behind an estimated 200 mass graves that could hold up to 12,000 bodies, the United Nations has said.

Authorities are testing remains from the most recent conflict as well as wars dating back three decades in an effort to identify the fates of missing Iraqis.

According to Iraqi authorities, Saddam's regime forcefully disappeared more than 1 million people in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of their families are still trying to find out what happened to them.

KHARTOUM — Hundreds of Sudanese university students chanting “civilian rule, civilian rule” rallied in downtown Khartoum on Tuesday seeking justice for fellow pupils killed in months of political unrest.

The rally follows a power sharing deal signed last week between protest leaders and army rulers, but negotiations have yet to address accountability for hundreds killed since demonstrations first erupted in December.

Tuesday's protest was called by the Sudanese Professionals Association, the group that initially spearheaded the campaign against the now ousted ruler Omar Al Bashir.

“Blood for blood, we don't want compensations,” chanted the students, many holding photographs of comrades killed in seven months of protest while others waved Sudanese flags.

Riot police deployed in the area but did not clash with protesters.

“We are in the streets because we want those responsible for the sit-in massacre to be held accountable,” said student Malaz Eizzeddine.

She was referring to a June 3 crackdown on a protest camp in the capital Khartoum, in which dozens of demonstrators were killed and hundreds wounded.

Ismail Al Taj, one of the protest leaders, addressed the students before the rally dispersed.

“You're the soul of the revolution. We are loyal to you and we are loyal to the martyrs,” he said as protesters chanted revolutionary slogans.

Doctors close to the protest movement say that 246 people have been killed nationwide in protest-related violence, while Sudanese officials have given a lower death toll.

Although protest leaders and the generals who took over following Bashir's ouster have inked a power sharing deal, three rebel groups backing the demonstrators have expressed reservations about the agreement.

Talks are currently under way in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa between protest leaders and the rebel groups, who have said the July 17 deal is “unacceptable”.

They insist the accord must make peace negotiations for Sudan's war zones a priority, as well as address the needs of those affected by the conflicts.

The accord signed earlier this month aims to set up a joint civilian-military ruling body that would then establish an overall civilian administration, the main demand of demonstrators.

More talks between the generals and protest leaders to thrash out some pending issues have been suspended since the rebel groups raised their concerns.

No date has been fixed yet for resuming the talks mediated by African Union and Ethiopian diplomats.