Region

DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates said Monday it was redeploying and reducing troops across war-torn Yemen and moving from a "military-first" strategy to a "peace-first" plan.

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.

"We do have troop levels that are down for reasons that are strategic in [the Red Sea city of] Hodeida and reasons that are tactical" in other parts of the country, a senior UAE official, who requested anonymity, told reporters.

"It is very much to do with moving from what I would call a military-first strategy to a peace-first strategy, and this is I think what we are doing."

The official, however, reiterated the UAE's commitment to the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition, saying discussions on redeployment have been ongoing for more than a year.

"This is not really a last-minute decision. This is part of the process and naturally a process within the coalition that's been discussed extensively with our partners, the Saudis," he said.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al Maliki said both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are committed to achieve their goals in Yemen. 

"The United Arab Emirates and the countries in the coalition continue to achieve their operations and strategic goals," he told a news conference in Riyadh in response to a question about the redeployment of UAE troops. 

According to a Yemeni military government official, UAE troops fighting the Houthis have “totally vacated” the military base in Khokha, about 130 kilometres south of Hodeida.

The UAE withdrew part of its heavy artillery from Khokha but was — along with the Saudi-led coalition and the government — still overseeing the military situation in Yemen’s western coast, he said on Monday.

‘Subtle differences’ 

Middle East expert James Dorsey has said a redeployment reflects “long-standing subtle differences” in the Saudi and UAE approaches towards Yemen.

The pullback “highlights the UAE’s long-standing concern for its international standing amid mounting criticism of the civilian toll of the war”, he has said.

Tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, relief agencies say.

The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and in need of aid.

In March 2018, rights group Amnesty International accused Western countries of supplying arms to Riyadh and its allies, who could stand guilty of war crimes in Yemen.

And in August last year a UN expert mission concluded that all warring parties had potentially committed “war crimes”.

Furthermore, Emirati-trained local troops will “continue to do its [UAE] bidding” on the ground, Dorsey said.

The Yemeni official said the UAE has trained tens of thousands of Yemenis to fight against extremists from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Daesh group in southern provinces — mainly Aden, Mukalla and Shabwa.

The UAE announcement comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran that spiked in June when Iran shot down a US drone over strategic Gulf waters following a series of tanker attacks that Washington blamed on Iran, which denied involvement.

It also comes a week after a US Democratic senator warned Washington could cut off arms sales to the Emirates over a report the US ally shipped US missiles to Libyan rebels. The UAE denied the claims.

Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the alleged transfer would be a “serious violation” of US law and “almost certainly” break the UN arms embargo on Libya.

The senior UAE official said the Emirates’ redeployment decision was not linked to regional tensions but the UAE was not “blind to the overall geostrategic picture”.

The official stressed the redeployment was in line with the agreement reached in Sweden in December between Yemen’s warring parties. 

US-ally Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to Houthi rebels, a charge Tehran denies. 

TEHRAN — Iran on Monday breached a uranium enrichment cap set by a troubled 2015 nuclear deal and warned Europe against taking retaliatory measures.

The move came more than a year after Washington pulled out of the landmark accord between world powers and Tehran, which says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by the remaining European partners.

Iran surpassing the cap and reaching 4.5 per cent enrichment was announced Monday by the country's atomic energy organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.

"This level of purity completely satisfies the power plant fuel requirements of the country," he said, quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Kamalvandi hinted that the Islamic republic might stick to this level of enrichment for the time being, which is well below the more than 90-per cent level required for a nuclear warhead.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed that Iran had enriched uranium to a level above the deal’s cap.

IAEA inspectors “on July 8 verified that Iran is enriching uranium above 3.67 per cent U-235,” a statement said.

Kamalvandi said that IAEA inspectors “are supposed to take samples” on Monday.

The European Union said it was “extremely concerned” by the development and called on Iran to “reverse all activities” inconsistent with its deal commitments.

France, Germany and Britain — the European partners of the international deal — on Sunday urged Tehran to halt its advance towards breaching the cap.

Iran’s foreign ministry warned against any escalatory response.

If the Europeans “do certain strange acts then we would skip all the next steps [in the plan to scale back commitments] and implement the last one,” ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

He did not specify what the final step would be but Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani had warned previously that Iran could leave the nuclear accord.

‘Bullying’ by the US 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that Iran’s actions could be reversed if European partners deliver on their part, insisting there was no better pact than the 2015 nuclear deal, of which he was a key architect.

“As it becomes increasingly clear that there won’t be a better deal, they’re bizarrely urging Iran’s full compliance. There’s a way out,” he Tweeted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Tweeted Sunday that Iran would face “further isolation and sanctions”.

China and Russia, the other deal partners, both blamed the United States for the latest step by Iran.

Beijing accused Washington of “unilateral bullying”, while Moscow said passing the enrichment cap was one of the “consequences” of the White House abandoning the deal.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday singled out declining oil sales and the effect of financial sanctions as the main issues that needed to be solved, or Tehran would further step back from its nuclear commitments.

“We hope we can reach a solution, otherwise after 60 days we will take the third step as well,” he said, adding that Tehran would give further details of that at an “opportune moment”.

Iran says that it is not violating the deal, citing terms of the agreement allowing one side to temporarily abandon some of commitments if it deems the other side is not respecting its part of the accord.

According to Middle East analyst Sanam Vakil, Europe would need to engage Iran and the US simultaneously to prevent the situation escalating even further.

“A ‘freeze for freeze’ is the most immediate goal; keeping Iran within the JCPOA and then sanctions relief from the Trump administration,” Vakil, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, told AFP referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. 

Rouhani in May flagged Tehran’s intentions to start enriching uranium above the agreed maximum purification level of 3.67 per cent.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed this month that Iran has exceeded a 300-kilogramme limit on enriched uranium reserves, another cap that was imposed by the deal.

The IAEA has scheduled a special meeting on Iran’s nuclear programme for July 10.

TEHRAN — Iran said Sunday it was set to breach the uranium enrichment cap set by an endangered nuclear deal within hours as it seeks to press other parties into keeping their side of the bargain.

The Islamic republic also threatened to abandon more commitments unless a solution is found with parties to the landmark 2015 agreement.

London said Iran had "broken the terms" of the accord and along with Berlin urged Tehran to halt its advance towards breaching the cap.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran could further scale back its commitments to the deal, but "all such steps are reversible" if European countries deliver on their part.

The move to start enriching uranium above the agreed maximum purification level of 3.67 per cent comes despite opposition from the European Union and the United States, which has quit the deal.

President Hassan Rouhani's order to exceed the threshold would be implemented "in a few hours" after the last technical details were sorted, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said live on state television.

Rouhani initially flagged Tehran's intentions on May 8, exactly a year on from US President Donald Trump abandoning the multilateral pact.

The Iranian president has said the move is in response to a failure by remaining parties to help Iran work around biting sanctions reimposed by the US.

The arch-rivals have been locked in an escalating war of words with Washington blaming Iran for a series of attacks on tanker ships and Tehran shooting down an American surveillance drone, raising fears of a conflict that both sides have said they want to avoid.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said in recent days that Iran has exceeded a 300-kilogramme limit on enriched uranium reserves, a cap that was imposed by the 2015 deal.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday singlled out Iran’s declining oil sales and the effect of financial sanctions as the main issues that needed to be solved, or Tehran would further step back from its nuclear commitments.

“We hope we can reach a solution otherwise after 60 days we will take the third step as well,” he said, adding that Tehran would give further details at an “opportune moment”.

Iran has previously threatened to also resume building as of July 7 a heavy water reactor — capable of one day producing plutonium — in Arak in central Iran, a project that had been mothballed under the agreement.

However since Iran delivered its ultimatum on the Arak reactor “good technical progress” had been made with parties on modernising the reactor in a way that would not produce military grade plutonium, convincing Iran to postpone its decision, Araghchi said.

‘At any level’ 

The 2015 deal was reached between Iran and six world powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, the United States and Russia — and saw Tehran agree to drastically scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Washington began reimposing sanctions in August 2018 and has targeted crucial sectors including oil exports and the banking system, fuelling a deep recession.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Sunday that this body was fully ready to enrich uranium “at any amount and at any level” if ordered to do so.

A top advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted Friday it could reach 5 per cent.

The 3.67 per cent enrichment limit set in the agreement is far below the more than 90 per cent level required for a nuclear warhead.

Iran says that it is not violating the deal, citing terms of the agreement allowing one side to temporarily abandon some of commitments if it deems the other side is not respecting its part of the accord.

‘Playing with fire’ 

Britain and Germany said Sunday they were coordinating with other partners to the deal.

In separate statements, their foreign ministries called on Iran to “stop and reverse all activities inconsistent with its commitments”.

France expressed “great concern” and demanded Tehran “Iran halt all activities that do not meet its commitments”, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Rouhani by phone Saturday and pledged to “explore by July 15 the conditions for a resumption of dialogue between all parties”, according to a statement from the Elysee Palace.

Iran says it exercised “strategic patience” for a year after the US withdrawal, waiting for the remaining partners to make good on promised economic benefits.

Trump has warned Iran that it is “playing with fire” by scrapping limits set by the accord.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday’s announcement was a “very dangerous step” and called on France, Britain and Germany to impose “harsh sanctions” on Iran.

The IAEA has scheduled a special meeting on Iran’s nuclear programme for July 10.

KHARTOUM — After months of political uncertainty, Sudan has taken its first step towards a democratic transition, but getting the ruling generals to deliver on a power-sharing accord with protesters remains a challenge.

"The only path forward is a negotiated deal between the two sides," said Alan Boswell, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

Sudan's ruling military council and protest leaders reached the tentative deal in the early hours of Friday, agreeing to form a joint civilian-military governing body.

That body is to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian administration that will govern for three years — the main demand of demonstrators.

The two agreed the ruling body would have a rotating presidency, a breakthrough following months of political impasse after the army in April ousted longtime ruler Omar Al Bashir on the back of a popular uprising.

Tensions climaxed on June 3 when armed men in military fatigues stormed a longstanding protest camp in Khartoum, shooting and beating crowds of demonstrators in a pre-dawn raid.

Dozens were killed, triggering international outrage, although the generals insisted they did not order the violent dispersal of protesters.

The power-sharing deal comes after intense mediation by Ethiopia and African Union diplomats.

“Any agreement is a positive step. The challenge will be actually getting the military council to do as it promised,” Boswell told AFP.

On Saturday, the head of that council General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan vowed to “implement” the deal and to work “in close cooperation” with the protest leaders.

The governing body will have a total of six civilians and five military representatives. The six civilians will include five from the umbrella protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change.

A general will head the ruling body during the first 21 months of the transition, followed by a civilian for the remaining 18 months, according to the framework agreement.

Against the backdrop of the June 3 raid, experts doubt whether the military will keep its part of the deal.

“The key question is whether the military or the security sector more widely will cooperate fully with civilian members of the board or is cooperation mere window dressing,” said Andreas Krieg, assistant professor at King’s College London.

“It is the security sector’s intent to accept civilian control that will determine whether Sudan can move to a fully civilian rule in the future.”

Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, ruled Sudan with an iron fist thanks to the security apparatus, especially the feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) — accused by rights groups of trampling human rights and freedoms.

Experts say the power-sharing accord is far from a long-term solution to the country’s overall political crisis.

One potential dispute is over the eventual formation of a transitional parliament.

Friday’s agreement postponed the creation of a 300-seat transitional legislature — 67 per cent of which would be lawmakers from the protest movement — that had already been agreed in previous talks.

“Failing to agree yet on the legislative body is a giant red flag. This risks becoming the new impasse,” said Boswell.

“Even in a best case scenario, Sudan will be navigating a very challenging transition for years to come.”

Boswell said the protest movement “will almost certainly need to continue mobilising its street power to pressure the military council to uphold its commitments”.

Prominent protest leader Babikir Faisal said that while the deal may not be a cure-all, an agreement with the generals was needed.

“Given the overall tension, agreeing on a sovereign council and a government is a step forward,” he told AFP.

“The other choice would have been to take the path of confrontation.”

The protest alliance says it is now in charge of appointing the new prime minister and a transitional government of technocrats.

Faisal said the first priority of the new administration will be to offer a “relief programme” aimed at tackling Sudan’s economic crisis.

“The economic situation is very difficult,” he said.

MUSCAT — Oman's top diplomat met Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Muscat said, in the Gulf official's second visit to the war-wracked country since conflict broke out in 2011. 

Assad met with Oman's state minister for foreign affairs Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah to discuss bilateral relations and regional security, the sultanate's foreign ministry said in a statement. 

It added that Abdullah also met with his Syrian counterpart, Walid Mouallem.

Oman is one of the few Arab states to have maintained ties with Damascus over the past eight years. 

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 following the break of the conlict, and fellow Arab countries, including Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia, have supported the opposition. 

Oman's Sultan Qaboos adheres to a strict policy of non-interference in regional affairs, maintaining relations with rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran — a key backer of Assad.

Abdullah visited Damascus in 2015, Syria's official SANA news agency reported at the time, to discuss ways to "resolve the crisis in Syria". 

During a visit to Oman last year, Syria’s Muallem praised Muscat for taking “supportive positions towards Syria at various Arab and international forums”, the state-run Oman News Agency reported.

Syria’s once rocky ties with the region are on the rebound. 

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus late last year after years of closure, and Syria’s relations with Bahrain and Jordan have also improved. 

Syria’s multifronted war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with the repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

DUBAI — The UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted Saturday to add Bahrain's Dilmun Burial Mounds to its World Heritage List, praising the tombs for their “globally unique characteristics”.

The burial grounds include “21 archaeological sites in the western part of the island” built between 2050 and 1750BC, according to the global body.

“Six of these sites are burial mound fields consisting of a few dozen to several thousand tumuli,” it said in a statement.

In all there were some 11,774 burial mounds, UNESCO said, while another 15 sites include 17 royal mounds built as two-storeyed towers.

The tombs were among a handful of nominations made on Saturday as the World Heritage Committee meets in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku for its 43rd session.

UNESCO said the burial mounds were evidence of the early Dilmun civilisation, “during which Bahrain became a trade hub, whose prosperity enabled the inhabitants to develop an elaborate burial tradition applicable to the entire population”.

They are the third site in Bahrain to be designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Head of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, said the tombs were “living proof of Bahrain's distinguished cultural heritage”, according to the kingdom's official BNA news agency.

Bahrain's other two UNESCO sites are the Bahrain Citadel, listed in 2005, and a major pearling site in the city of Muharraq included in 2012.

ALGIERS — Algerian police said on Sunday they had opened an investigation after a video circulated online appeared to show protesters being beaten by security forces.

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Algiers on Friday, the latest in weeks of rallies against the ruling class amid an ongoing political crisis in the country.

In a video widely circulated on social media, two men are seen on the ground being beaten by police officers with batons.

Police chief Abdelkader Kara Bouhadba ordered a probe into the footage “showing clashes with police forces probably during the protest on Friday”, the Directorate General for National Security (DGSN) said in a statement.

The DGSN stressed “the need to investigate... to determine liability and take the measures required by law”, in a message on its Facebook page.

Scuffles broke out at the end of the Algiers rally when police officers grabbed the Berber flag — banned from protests — from demonstrators' hands and removed it from streetlights.

There was a major police presence at Friday's rally as demonstrators continued their push for a political overhaul following ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika quitting in April in the face of mass demonstrations.

Interim president Abdelkader Bensalah has called for a national dialogue to pave the way for elections, but demonstrators want top figures from Bouteflika's era to step aside before polls are held.