Israeli Foreign Minister Discusses Mideast Ties With Blinken

Sullivan met bin Salman on Sunday and reviewed what the White House called "significant progress" in Yemen peace efforts, but there was no acknowledgment if the expansion of the Abraham Accords or issues related to Iran were discussed, apart from the Yemen conflict.

A statement released by the White House said the two sides reviewed “significant progress in talks to further consolidate the new 15-month long truce in Yemen.”

There have been reports and speculations in recent weeks that the United States has been working to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel closer and expand the Abraham Accords that saw Saudi allies, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state in 2020.

A senior Israeli security official said on Friday that Israel was hoping for a breakthrough in efforts to normalize its ties with Saudi Arabia during Sullivan's visit there.

But the White House statement made no mention of Israel.

Saudi state media did not immediately publish either video or photographs of the meetings.

Saudi Arabia in March reached agreement with Iran to resume diplomatic relations, a deal that was brokered by China and seen as a sign of decline in American influence in the region, particularly with Riyadh.

Sullivan's meeting also came after a period in which US-Saudi ties have been damaged by oil production cuts by Saudi-led OPEC+ and differences over the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi state news report said only that the men reviewed “strategic relations” in a meeting that included other American officials.

Later, Sullivan took part in a meeting with the crown prince and Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser of the neighboring United Arab Emirates.

Washington is said to be interested in linking the Arab oil producing countries around the Persian Gulf in a rail network that would ultimately expand trade links with India, perhaps as a counterweight to growing Chinese influence.

A White House statement acknowledged the meetings, saying they aimed to “to advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world.” It did not elaborate.

Sullivan, President Joe Biden's top White House national security aide, also thanked the crown prince for Saudi support to US citizens during evacuation from Sudan, the statement added.

US special envoy Tim Lenderking travelled to Oman and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to seek to advance Yemen peace efforts, the State Department said.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government from the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi delegation, which is seeking a permanent ceasefire deal to end military involvement in the war, concluded peace talks in mid-April in Sanaa with the Houthi group, whose top negotiator said talks had made progress and further discussions would be held.

Yemen's conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions hungry, has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP

Representative Jim Himes (D-Conn) who was visiting Israel with the Intelligence Committee Chairman Republican Mike Turner were interviewed by CNN’s Jake Tapper about what they heard from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran’s nuclear program.

Himes said that Netanyahu was “very much focused” on the issue and told them many times that he could not imagine Iran armed with nuclear weapons.

Turner said the Israeli prime minister believes “Iran can be deterred and if they believe that there would be military action against them – some type of a surgical strike – that would diminish their ability to pursue nuclear weapons, that could have a chilling effect and could stall their programming.” He added that Netanyahu wants Iran to see that there is a risk of both the United States and Israel – together or separately – might take military action against its nuclear facilities.

Himes said, “The problem is that of course with Iran so brutally abusing its own people, the prospect for negotiations I think is arguably further away than ever before.”

The Biden administration decided early in its term to start indirect talks with Iran to revive the 2015 JCPOA accord that had restricted Iran’s uranium enrichment. President Joe Biden had said before the 2020 election that he opposed his predecessor’s decision to pull out of the JCPOA.

However, after 18 months, the negotiations reached a deadlock in September 2022 and since then Iran has continued uranium enrichment at 60 percent, accumulating enough fissile material for 4-5 bombs.

Habib Chaab, 49, former leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), was hanged on Saturday morning, weeks after his sentence for “corruption on earth” was confirmed by the judiciary.

The Swedish-Iranian dual national was tried by a revolutionary court in Tehran in December. Denied his own choice of defense attorney, he was represented by a court-appointed lawyer. He had been forced to make self-incriminating confessions.

On Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he was “appalled”, adding: “The UK strongly opposes the death penalty. We call on the regime to stop all executions, now.”

On Saturday, the European Union had condemned “in the strongest terms” the execution of Chaab, reiterating strong opposition against the application of capital punishment in any circumstance, adding: “The European Union calls on Iran to refrain from any future executions and to pursue a consistent policy towards the abolition of capital punishment.

"The increasing number of EU and dual EU-Iranian nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran, the restrictions imposed on consular access to EU nationals, the denial of consular protection and the right to a fair trial, stand in direct violation of international law.”

Several European officials, including Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, condemned the execution. However, they mainly focused on the irreversibility of capital punishment, rather than highlighting how the Islamic Republic is using it to crush dissent.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador to Stockholm over the hanging.

The Islamic Republic authorities say Chaab was found guilty of leading ASMLA (Harakat al-Nidal in Arabic), a movement which advocates the separation of southwestern Khuzestan Province and for plotting "numerous bombings and terrorist operations" in the oil-rich province with a large Arabic speaking population.

Tehran classifies the ASMLA as a ‘terrorist’ organization responsible for acts of terror including an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz on September 22, 2018, which killed 25 military and civilians. ASMLA claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Iran's relations with Sweden have been strained since July 2022 when a Swedish court sentenced a former Iranian jailor, Hamid Nouri, to life imprisonment over executions of political prisoners in 1988.

This weekend it emerged that three Iranian Arab prisoners who have been sentenced to death have now been moved to an unknown location, prompting fears that their execution is imminent.

In February, the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court sentenced them to death along with three other prisoners on charges of "transferring currency and remittances through a foreign bank, armed attacks, and being associated with a political movement."

Norway-based monitoring group the Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic has carried out at least 42 executions in the past 10 days alone, or one person every six hours. At least 194 people have been executed in 2023 in Iran.

Hashemi, who had advised the government on defeating Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants and curbing the influence of the pro-Iran Shi’ite militias, was shot dead outside his Baghdad family home in July 2020 by men on a motorbike.

The assassination came at a time of rising tension between former prime minister Mustafa Kadhimi's government and powerful Iran-backed militias and political parties who opposed him and accused him of siding with the United States.

A Baghdad court issued a death sentence on Sunday against Ahmed Hamdawi under Iraqi counter-terrorism laws, a judicial authority statement said.

Media were not allowed access, but a lawyer who attended the court session said Hamdawi did not say anything in the court in response to the judge's ruling.

He can appeal the sentence, a spokesman for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad said.

In 2021, Iraqi state television aired a video showing Hamdawi saying he led the group that killed Hashemi.

The government officials then described the killing of Hashemi, who had written about politics, Islamic State and the role of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, as a targeted killing but did not accuse any particular group.

Iran-aligned paramilitary officials denied any role in the killing. Some Islamic State supporters cheered his death, but no group had claimed the murder.

Reporting by Reuters

A video posted on Friday showed the Chinese national watching a match in Abadan between his target club Esteghlal and Naft FC.

In the clip published by Borna news agency, which is affiliated with the ministry of sports, the businessman said he wants to buy Esteghlal.

He presented himself as the representative of a Chinese state company, and said that he plans to visit Iran's football infrastructure to start negotiations to invest in the popular football club.

But on Saturday the IRNA state news agency wrote that the managers of Esteghlal are not aware of this proposal. It added that the law prohibits Esteghlal and Persepolis clubs from being sold to foreigners.

IRNA said all the claims and reports of the possible purchase are false.

Both state-owned and two of the biggest football clubs in Iran, Esteghlal and Persepolis are in dire financial trouble. Although the clubs are both successful on the field, off the field their stability is now in doubt due to the mounting debt.

Esteghlal owe millions of dollars to its previous foreign players and coaches, while Persepolis have suffered financially within the past years.

The Asian FC Champions League (ACL) have already banned Esteghlal for one season due to unpaid debts. Now the Iranian giants face a second straight year that they might be excluded from the competition.

As a result of their failure to meet the entry requirements for the 32-team tournament, Esteghlal, their arch-rival Persepolis, and Gol Gohar Sirjan were expelled from the competition last season.