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With American Pressure Mounting, Scores of Corporations Leave Iran The rise of the The passing far right in Europe of Kofi Annan Page 16 Page 7 UK £2 www.thearabweekly.com Issue 171, Year 4 September 2, 2018 EU €2.50 Turkey attempts precarious balance as it jockeys for position in Syria Thomas Seibert main international partner of Syrian President Bashar Assad, expects Tur- key to use its influence in Idlib to dis- Istanbul solve radical rebel groups there but it remains unclear whether Ankara eading into a series of crucial will deliver. Reports said Ankara was international talks regard- negotiating with the Hayat Tahrir al- ing Syria, Turkey is trying Sham (HTS) militia and other militant H to strengthen its position by Islamist groups to give up their heavy deepening cooperation with Russia weapons and leave the region. and increasing its military presence in In a sign Turkey might be bowing to northern Syria. Russian calls to increase pressure on Turkey recently sent tanks and rebel groups and accept a limited of- other military vehicles over the bor- fensive in Idlib, Ankara officially des- der towards Tel Rifaat in Aleppo prov- ignated HTS a terrorist organisation ince, Turkish news reports said. Tel on August 31. Rifaat, 20km east of Afrin, was taken Since overcoming a bilateral crisis by Turkish troops earlier this year. triggered by the downing of a Rus- Other Turkish units were sent to sian jet by Turkey in 2015, relations reinforce troops on the border with between Ankara and Moscow have Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, improved dramatically. Erdogan and where the Damascus government is Putin have met about a dozen times preparing an offensive, the state-run in recent years to coordinate actions Shutting business. An Iranian family walks past the shuttered window of the closed offices of a Anadolu news agency said. in Syria and boost economic coop- travel agency showing the logos of various airlines in Tehran, on August 24. (AFP) There are concerns that an attack eration. Turkey has dropped its insist- on Idlib could trigger a wave of refu- ence on the immediate departure of gees into Turkey, which already hosts Assad and Russia has allowed Turkey 3 million Syrians. The United Nations to conduct cross-border operations warned that a large-scale offensive in against Kurdish militants in Syria. With American pressure Idlib “has the potential to create a hu- In Idlib, Moscow’s support for As- manitarian emergency at a scale not sad, who wants to recapture the re- yet seen” in the 7-year civil war and bel-held province to seal his military is floating the idea of evacuating civil- victory in the war, and Ankara’s assis- mounting, scores of ians from Idlib to other parts of Syria. tance to rebel groups there have cre- Fighting could also endanger about ated conflicting interests between the 1,000 Turkish soldiers in Idlib, sent two countries. to Syria with Russian and Iranian ap- Still, Russia needs Turkey’s cooper- corporations leave Iran proval to man 12 observation posts ation to bring the Syrian war to an end there. while Turkey needs Russian approval “We are working with Russia and for its actions in Syria. In this context, Thomas Frank leaders of five other countries and to dry up Iran’s revenues so they Iran to prevent a new Aleppo-like ca- Moscow does not mind deepening the the European Union as well as Iran. have less money to spend on terror- tastrophe in Idlib,” Turkish President rift between Turkey and the United The deal, known as the Joint Com- ism.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said August 30, States. Washington and Ankara are at Washington prehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), The United States reinstated a referring to a drawn-out battle for the loggerheads over the detention of a waived sanctions in exchange for first round of sanctions on August northern Syrian city that ended with US missionary by Turkey. ore than 100 major cor- Iran curbing its nuclear-develop- 7 restricting purchases of certain the Syrian government taking con- “There is no trust left between Tur- porations have left or ment programme. Iran-made goods such as alumini- trol in 2016 and key and the United States,” said Celal- are planning to leave As the United States tries to build um and steel and barring Iranians the death of ettin Yavuz, an expert on international M Iran in response to the international economic pressure from transacting in US dollars. thousands of relations at Ayvansaray University in reinstatement of US sanctions, a on Iran, 16 US senators pressed the Hook called the US strategy “a people. Istanbul. “In case of a chemical attack senior US official said, providing Trump administration to impose multipronged pressure campaign” Erdogan is in Idlib, Turkey will believe that the the most comprehensive account of even steeper sanctions by expel- that includes feeding information to meet with United States is behind it,” he added. the departure of foreign investment ling Iran from the global financial to Iranians about the regime’s cor- Russian Presi- One reason for the tensions be- from the Islamic Republic. system that oversees international ruption and publicly supporting dent Vladimir tween Turkey and the United States The exiting corporations include bank transfers. The senators — all Iranian protesters. is Washington’s support for a Syrian- some of the largest businesses in Republicans like Trump — urged US “We’re providing information Kurdish rebel force regarded as a the world, such as US-based Gener- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that can ideally make its way into terrorist organisation by Turkey. Re- al Electric and the French oil com- “to take all steps necessary” to cut Iran so people can start under- ports in Turkey said the latest Turk- pany Total SA. Many companies off Iran’s banks from the global sys- standing the nature of this brutal ish troop movement into Syria’s Tel stopped their operations in Iran tem, known as the SWIFT network. and dark theocracy. Information Rifaat was an answer to a decision even as their home governments “The administration’s maximum is power and we want the Iranian by the United States to step up its as- offered assurances they would not pressure campaign will not succeed people to have as much informa- sistance for the Kurds there. Turkish be penalised by staying in Iran. if the Islamic Republic remains tion as they can so they can control Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the “We didn’t really need to do connected to SWIFT,” the senators their own destiny,” Hook said. Turkish side was “constantly remind- much coaxing for these companies wrote. They sent their letter as the Hook brushed aside an assertion ing” the Americans that Kurdish mili- and banks because they’re making European Union, which wants to by Iran that it controlled the Strait Turkish intelligence chief tants had to leave the region around their own decisions and they’re preserve the JCPOA, announced of Hormuz, a major shipping route Hakan Fidan at the Kremlin in Manbij, about 50km east of Tel Rifaat. making them independent of gov- it would give Iran $21 million in fi- between Oman and Iran through (AP) Moscow, on August 24. While tensions between Turkey ernments,” said Brian Hook, who nancial support to help the coun- which much of the world’s oil pass- and the United States simmer, the was recently named head of the try address its economic and social es as it leaves the Persian Gulf for Putin and Iranian President Hassan Iranian-Turkish-Russian summit in US State Department’s Iran Action problems. international destinations. General Rohani on September 7 in Iran. The Iran showcases Ankara’s attempt at Group. Alireza Tangsiri, the chief naval of- looming offensive in Idlib is expected striking a delicate balance that serves Speaking at the Foundation for ficer of the Islamic Revolutionary to be one of the main issues up for dis- its geostrategic interests with a focus Defense of Democracies, a conserv- The exiting corporations Guard Corps, said Iran fully con- cussion. on Syria. ative Washington think-tank, Hook include some of the largest trolled the strait and the Persian Before the summit, Ankara intensi- Just four days after the summit, said major corporations were leav- businesses in the world, Gulf. fied its talks with Moscow. Turkey’s representatives of the three countries ing Iran to avoid violating the rein- such as US-based General Noting that Iran “for many years” foreign minister, defence minister are to meet with UN Syria Envoy Staf- stated US sanctions and being shut Electric and the French oil has threatened to seal off the Per- and spy chief all visited Moscow in the fan de Mistura in Geneva about draft- out of the US consumer market and company Total SA. sian Gulf, Hook said: “They do last month. The development could ing a new constitution for Syria. banking system. not have control of the Strait of strengthen Turkish-Russian ties at a On September 14, de Mistura is to “They want access to the interna- Hook did not address the sena- Hormuz. It’s an international wa- time Turkey is locked in a bitter dis- host another meeting on Syria, this tional financial system,” Hook said. tors’ request in his remarks but said terway. The United States and its pute with the United States. Speaking time with senior envoys from Egypt, “Their economic self-interests ap- “the real strong sanctions” would partners will ensure that the Strait in Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minis- France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Ara- ply.” come in November, when the of Hormuz is open to commercial ter Mevlut Cavusoglu called Russia a bia, the United Kingdom and the Unit- The departures began shortly af- Trump administration reinstates navigation, that it maintains its cur- “strategic partner,” a term normally ed States.
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