Page 9 Page 15 THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT ice hockey Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com markets THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 / JUMADA AL THANI 15, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17599 16 PAGES 150 FILS MINNOW TEL AVIV BROWBEATS BIDEN OVER IRAN N-DEAL Israel preps unilateral attack on Iran US back with Palestine Other Voices TEL AVIV, Jan 27, (AP): Israel’s mili- tary chief has warned the Biden admin- Corruption heavy enough to be carried by trucks istration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he’s ordered his forces to step up By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli egory, to surprise us with desperate deci- preparations for possible offensive action Former Minister of Oil sions and suggestions. against Iran during the coming year. A few days ago, the Interior and De- The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi came as EVERYONE talks about administrative fense Committee refused to lift the im- munity of an MP who won membership Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on Presi- corruption and its heroes among the em- dent Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement ployees of our rational government. The through legally criminalized by-elections corruption in Kuwait Municipality is so under the pretext that there is no evidence on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear much rampant and is present in a very of committing the crime except the in- program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait shameful way. It is the corruption that our vestigations of the detectives. We, our indefinitely for Biden to act. late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad (May rational government and the whole world The 2015 deal put curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in God rest his soul) had described as “Mu- watched him in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. nicipality corruption cannot be carried by both audio and vi- Israel strongly opposed the deal, saying it did not include camels”. To that I add, “O Bu Nasser, the sual form receiv- sufficient safeguards to prevent Iran from developing a corruption of our government employees ing congratulations nuclear weapon. It welcomed the Trump administration’s cannot be carried even by trucks, not just for his criminal- withdrawal from the agreement in 2018. camels”. ized victory, which Biden has said he will seek to revive the deal, with some The problem is that the top officials in means the crime changes. the government, starting from His High- was documented In his address to the Institute for National Security ness the Prime Minister to the ministers, in the act. So how Studies, Kohavi said a return to the deal, even with some undersecretaries and senior employees to were the members improvements, “is bad operationally and it is bad strategi- whom independent organizations with of that committee cally.” He said allowing Iran to proceed with a nuclear budgets of millions have recently been not convinced of program would be “an unacceptable threat and will lead to nuclear proliferation across the region.” Iran says its assigned, watch corruption as if it is hap- Al-Baghli his committing that pening in other places. illegal act? nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. In other words, it seems the matter does Five MPs belonging to the two funda- Kohavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel’s not concern them. The evidence of that is mentalist parties – Muslim Brotherhood military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed. that no senior official is behind bars so Group and Salafi Movement – have sug- Plans far, except in some rare cases. The tan- gested increasing the reward for Kuwaiti muezzins and imams. Such an increase “I instructed the army to prepare a number of opera- gible evidence is the number of rare cases tional plans in addition to the existing ones,” he said. “We that the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Author- is meaningless in light of the financial are taking care of these plans and will develop them during ity has dealt with or that it just chooses deficit that the government had been re- the coming year. Those who decide on carrying them out, to watch corruption – no difference. It in- peatedly talking about day and night. In of course, are the political leaders. But these plans have to formed us about the number of corruption addition to that, it is assumed that these be on the table.” stories which are less than the few it has young people are graduates from the un- Just hours before Kohavi spoke against a deal, Iran dealt with since its inception until now. necessary College of Sharia and Islamic prodded Biden to rejoin the atomic accord. “The window That is why we were enthusiastic on Studies and are supposed to take over the of opportunity will not be open for long,” said Iran’s Cabi- December 5 to go to the elections and work in mosques as muezzins and imams net spokesman Ali Rabiei. choose those who would represent us in in pursuit of pleasing Allah. So how do Israeli officials, including Kohavi, say that Iran is in a terms of oversight and legislation, hoping these huge rewards meet that noble goal? much weaker position than in 2015 after years of sanc- that the wheel of corruption would per- This came from some of the MPs dur- tions by the Trump administration. They say that any new haps stop turning. However, it seems our ing the parliamentary session held after a deal should eliminate “sunset” provisions that phase out hopes turned into vapors and our dreams month and a half of their membership in certain limits on Iran’s nuclear activities, address Iran’s into ashes. the Legislative and Supervisory Council. long-range missile program and its military involvement The people we elected on that day have It proves that they are as far as the earth’s and support for Israel’s enemies across the region. not yet held a single productive session distance from the sky when it comes to Tensions around Iran have steadily increased. During due to the government’s absence in light legislation and oversight, but are efficient Trump’s final days as president, Tehran seized a South of the threat to His Highness the Prime in increasing corruption such that trucks Korean oil tanker and begun enriching uranium closer to Minister to be grilled by the majority of cannot carry them, as I had earlier de- weapons-grade levels, while the U.S. has sent B-52 bomb- the MPs. We looked at the members of scribed. ers, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and a nuclear subma- the committees, in which the government ❑ ❑ ❑ rine into the region. participated in terms of selecting some of Iran has also increased its military drills, including fir- their members from the “Yes, Sir” cat- [email protected] ing cruise missiles as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah with the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al Seyassah and the Arab Times Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al- Oman this month. Jarallah, during a meeting on Jan 27 with the editors-in-chief of local newspapers. Iran has missile capability of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), far enough to reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the region. Newswatch PM meets editors Biden’s administration announced Tuesday it was re- storing relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administra- tion’s cutoff and a key element of its new support for a KUWAIT CITY: The Central Bank of Ku- lomat took the helm of the State Depart- two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Is- wait has instructed banks to monitor the ment on Wednesday with a vow to rebuild Your tool ... Grill at will raelis and Palestinians. the ranks of the foreign service and rely on accounts of 28 individuals and entities, Acting U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills made the an- including a former lawmaker sentenced to its expertise as the Biden administration tries to restore US global standing. By Sulaiman Al-Jarallah nouncement of Biden’s approach to a high-level virtual jail for involvement in money laundering Security Council meeting, saying the new U.S. administra- and real estate fraud cases; as well as key On his fi rst full day in the job, Antony and Agencies offi cials in various companies including a Blinken told a coronavirus-limited audi- tion believes this “remains the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a democratic and Jewish state while upholding well-known offi cial implicated in real es- ence of employees in the department’s KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: His Highness the Day by Day tate fraud cases and currently serving his main lobby that he values their work and the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for a state of their Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al- own and to live with dignity and security.” prison sentence, reports Al-Rai daily quot- commitment. He also said that they have a Hamad Al-Sabah affirmed on Wednesday hard road ahead with the world watching Trump’s administration provided unprecedented sup- ing sources. the right of any parliament member to use the Sources explained this entails monitor- how they will pursue foreign policy after Garden of Eden port to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, four years of former president Donald grilling tool.