Daily Report: March 18, 2020

Iraq

Adnan al-Zurfi, Iraq’s new prime minister-designate

President Barham Salih tapped former Najaf province governor Adnan al-Zurfi as Iraq’s new prime minister-designate. Al-Zurfi, an Iraqi-American dual citizen who served as an official in the US-run authorities that governed Iraq after the 2003 invasion, belongs the Nasr coalition led by ex-PM Haider al-Abadi. Although he is likely to win the support of Sunni and Kurdish factions that opposed former Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi, the pro-Tehran Fatah bloc, the second largest faction in the Iraqi parliament, has already objected to al-Zurfi’s nomination. The nomination comes after two rockets hit the Besmaya base south of Baghdad late Monday night. Spanish forces linked to the US-led Coalition against ISIS, as well as NATO training forces, are present at the base.

For more, read here.

Syria

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo inferred for the first time Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the lethal attacks on Turkish soldiers that provoked the recent Turkish offensive in Idlib province. Without referring to a specific incident, Pompeo told reporters, “We believe Russia has killed dozens of Turkish military personnel in the course of their military operation.” The US had heretofore followed Ankara’s line of not directly blamed Russia. Pompeo also announced new sanctions against Syrian Defense Minister Ali Ayoub that would freeze any assets he might have in the US and enable the prosecution of anyone engaging in financial transactions with him.

For more, read here.

Iran

A satellite image from early March of mass burial plots for coronavirus victims in Qom, Iran. (Maxar Technologies)

As the number of Iranian COVID-19 cases rose to 16,169 and fatalities reached 988, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Tuesday Iran has temporarily freed about 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners. No information on when they must return to custody was provided. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Javaid Rehman earlier this month revealed that some Iranian prisoners were infected with COVID-19 and implored Tehran to release all political prisoners. Among those released on Tuesday was Reuters project manager Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian arrested in April 2016 and sentenced to five years in prison for plotting to overthrow the Iranian government. Her husband claims the furlough is for two weeks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also told reporters Tuesday that Iran is considering releasing some detained American citizens on humanitarian grounds due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, Iranian state TV journalist Dr. Afruz Eslami, citing a study by Tehran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology, warned that failure to comply with government health restrictions could result in 3.5 million deaths after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a religious ruling prohibiting unnecessary travel. This follows angry crowds storming into the courtyards of Mashhad’s Imam Reza shrine and Qom’s Fatima Masumeh shrine late Monday after the pilgrimage sites were closed to contain COVID-19.

For more, read here, here, and here.

Sudan

The Sudanese prosecutor’s office Tuesday ordered the arrest of former foreign minister Ali Karti and the freezing of his assets for his role in the 1989 coup that brought Omar al-Bashir to power. Arrest warrants were issued for five other Bashir confidants, including former parliamentary speaker Omar Suleiman.

For more, read here.

Turkey

Turkish authorities detained Azeri Turkish freight vessel tycoon Mubariz Mansimov Gurbanoglu over the weekend and a court ordered his formal arrest over ties to Fethullah Gulen’s FETO network, Istanbul police said on Tuesday. Forbes listed the founder and chairman of the Istanbul-based Palmali group as worth $1.3 billion in 2015. The Istanbul court ordered his arrest for belonging to a terrorist group as the Erdogan government blames Gulen for the failed 2016 military coup.

For more, read here.

Algeria

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune banned further street protests because of COVID-19, saying in a television address, “The lives of citizens are above all considerations even if this requires restricting some freedoms.” The demonstrations started in February 2019 when former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika sought another term and they eventually pressured the then Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army, Ahmed Gaid Salah, to force Bouteflika’s resignation the following April. However, the street protestors have pressed on, demanding the resignation of all officials from the Bouteflika regime.

For more, read here.

Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen destroyed Tuesday two explosive-laden boats the Houthis launched and remotely-controlled from Hodeidah to threaten navigation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Officials from Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s internationally recognized government and tribal leaders reported Houthi rebels advanced deep into Marib province’s Sorouh district before government forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes, repelled them, the clashes killing 38 in total.

For more, read here and here.

Israel

Channel 12 reported Tuesday Blue and White MK Omer Yankelevich joined fellow faction members Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser in opposing a minority government backed by the Joint List. Blue and White officials assured Channel 12 that, despite her misgivings, Yankelevich will vote according to the party leadership’s decisions. Also on Tuesday, Gesher party chairwoman Orly Levy-Abekasis filed a request to the Knesset to separate from the Labor-Gesher-Meretz list on which she ran in the March 2 election. Levy-Abekasis has recently expressed opposition to Labor chairman Amir Peretz’s support for a Joint List-backed minority government.

For more, read here and here.

Lebanon

Lebanese military judge Ghassan Khoury Tuesday asked the Military Court of Appeals to reverse yesterday’s ruling releasing Amer Fakhoury, who was in custody since last September on decades-old charges relating to his work for the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army. Fakhoury ran Khiam detention center, a prison where thousands were tortured during the 1980s and 1990s, earning him the nickname “the butcher of Khiam.” Although Fakhoury’s lawyer, Celine Atallah, had said her client had worked in the prison but was never involved in or ordered torture, he was freed because the 10-year statute of limitations for his alleged offences had passed. Judge Ahmad Mezher, a Nabatiyeh-based judge of urgent matters, issued a ruling Tuesday preventing Fakhoury from leaving Lebanon for two months. Hezbollah denounced yesterday’s ruling as a surrender to “American pressures and threats.”

For more, read here and here.

Saudi Arabia

13 Republican senators sent a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday complaining that as the world deals with COVID-19 “the added impact of unsettled global energy markets is an unwelcome development” and that recent actions have called into question Saudi Arabia’s role as “a force for stability in global markets.” They then “urge the Kingdom to assert constructive leadership in stabilizing the world economy by calming economic anxiety in the oil and gas sector.” The letter was signed by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Kennedy (R-LA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tom Cotton (R-AR), James Lankford (R-OK), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and James Inhofe (R-OK).

To limit COVID-19’s spread, Saudi Arabia Tuesday suspended all mosque prayer services across the kingdom, except for those in the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina. The decision follows a meeting between the Council of Senior Scholars, the country’s highest religious body, and the Minister of Health.

For more, read here.

Jordan

Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz announced Tuesday lockdown measures to combat COVID-19 that will take effect tomorrow morning and last for two weeks. Aside from essential services (e.g. healthcare, food, along with water, electricity, and fuel supply chains) the private sector will be shuttered and citizens confined to their homes, barring emergencies. The Jordanian military will prevent entering and exiting cities to contain the virus. All public transportation will be suspended and gatherings of more than ten people prohibited.

For more, read here.