Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Iran bans director Mani Haghighi from attending London film festival

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The Subtraction director had his passport confiscated by Iranian authorities and was prevented from boarding his flight to the UK, allegedly with no reason given

Iranian film-maker Mani Haghighi has been banned from leaving the country and had his passport confiscated after attempting to travel to London, where his latest film Subtraction is screening at the London film festival.

In a video statement, Haghighi said: “I was prevented by the Iranian authorities from boarding my flight to London on Friday. They gave me no reasonable explanation for this utterly rude behaviour.”

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Iran’s youthful protests stoke uncertainty among political elite

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While some insist the unrest will eventually peter out, others warn there is something more fundamental at play

A shaken Iranian political elite is struggling with whether to frame the protests shaking the country as primarily the product of a covert foreign intelligence conspiracy, or instead a dangerous warning that the values of the Islamic Revolution have lost sway over a new generation infected by a western controlled internet, analysts say.

The debate, in which there are many shades of grey, matters since it determines whether the response should be a security crackdown coupled with retribution against the outside forces of disruption or some kind of dialogue with the largely leaderless youth.

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Iranian regime’s giant poster of women in hijabs proves to be PR fiasco

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Montage in Tehran taken down within 24 hours after prominent women and relatives denounce use of their photos

The Iranian authorities suffered a PR fiasco after being forced to take down a giant billboard in a central square in Tehran when women in the poster, or their relatives, objected to being depicted as supporters of the government and the compulsory-wearing of the hijab.

The billboard controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was a montage of about 50 Iranian women wearing the hijab under the slogan “Women of my Land”. It was taken down within 24 hours after at least three of the women pictured said they objected to their image being misused.

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Dismay as key cholera vaccine is discontinued

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Exclusive: halt to production of Shanchol vaccine alarms WHO amid ‘unprecedented’ global outbreaks

The manufacturer of one of only two cholera vaccines for use in humanitarian emergencies is to halt production at the end of this year, just as the world faces an “unprecedented” series of deadly outbreaks, the Guardian has learned.

Shantha Biotechnics, a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, will stop production of its Shanchol vaccine within months and cease supply by the end of 2023, causing alarm among health officials.

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US-Saudi rift grows over decision to cut oil production

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Washington has accused Saudi Arabia of coercing other Opec+ members into 2m-barrel-a-day reduction

The relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia continued to worsen on Thursday as the two countries traded barbs over the decision to cut oil production, with Washington accusing Riyadh of coercing other members of the Opec+ cartel, and Riyadh suggesting the Biden administration tried to get the decision delayed by a month.

In reaction to Joe Biden’s declared intention to reevaluate the US relationship with Riyadh, the Saudi foreign ministry issued an unusually long statement rejecting “attempts to distort the facts” about the kingdom’s motives for pushing for a 2m-barrel-a-day cut to Opec+ production.

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Israeli forces use live fire in clashes with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem

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Killing of Israeli soldier led to closure of refugee camp and worst violence in contested city in months

Israeli forces have used live fire during confrontations with hundreds of Palestinian protesters throwing stones and firebombs in the worst violence in the contested city of Jerusalem in months, sparked by the search for a suspected Palestinian gunman.

The killing of an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the neighbourhood of Shuafat on Saturday led to raids and the four-day closure of a nearby sprawling refugee camp. By Wednesday, with tensions soaring, Palestinians across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank launched a general strike in solidarity with the residents of Shuafat, and demonstrations overnight quickly turned violent, with clashes lasting into the early hours of Thursday.

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‘It’s a revolution’: Iranian women in UK believe protests will bring freedom

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Women who fled regime are working hard to expose abuses in Iran and say this time real change is possible

Iranian and Kurdish women living in the UK believe the prospect of freedom for millions of women in their home country has never been greater following protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran for not wearing her headscarf correctly.

Many of those who fled the Iranian regime because of its attacks on human and women’s rights are working hard behind the scenes to support women in their home country to expose the abuses in the hope of encouraging the international community to act to bring about regime change.

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First British woman and her child repatriated to UK from Syrian camp

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Woman, said to have been trafficked, is only adult allowed back since end of Islamic State ground war

A British woman and her child have been repatriated from a Syrian camp, the first time an adult has been allowed to come back to the UK from detention since the end of the ground war against Islamic State.

The Foreign Office said that British policy to those held in Syria remained unchanged, and that it considered requests for help on “a case by case basis”, but campaigners said it was a significant first step.

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Democrats issue fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia over oil production

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Members of Congress raise prospect of one-year arms sales ban unless kingdom reverses Opec+ decision to cut output

Democrats in the US Congress have issued a fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia, giving the kingdom weeks to reverse an Opec+ decision to roll back oil production or face a potential one-year freeze on all arms sales.

The threat came as Joe Biden reiterated his pledge to take action over Riyadh’s decision last week to cut oil output by 2m barrels a day, which Democrats have said would help “fuel Vladimir Putin’s war machine” and hurt American consumers at the petrol pump.

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Saudi Arabia is choosing friends on its own terms and Biden is not one of them

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Reactions in Washington to slashing oil supply have not concerned Mohammed bin Salman; nor have the optics of indirectly boosting Putin’s war

Mohammed bin Salman had seen it coming. The groundswell of anger in Washington was clear and building since he helped lead an Opec+ decision to cut the world’s oil supply last week.

But for the first time in the modern era of ties between the US and Saudi Arabia, there was no rush to placate hard feelings, or gloss over a rift. This was the birth of a new realpolitik, where nascent Saudi nationalism paid no heed to a historical ally and instead aligned itself to what Riyadh literally sees as a new world order.

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UN rebukes Finland for violating rights of its children held in Syria camps

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Child rights committee says Helsinki must do more to repatriate those detained as relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters

A UN watchdog has accused Finland of violating the rights of Finnish children stuck in Syrian prison camps holding suspected jihadists and their families.

Adding to mounting criticism directed at western countries, the UN child rights committee said Finland had a responsibility to make serious efforts to bring the children home.

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Saudi Arabia will face ‘consequences’, says Biden, amid anger at cuts in oil output

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Moves by Opec+ to reduce production seen as siding with Putin over the US just as midterms loom

Joe Biden said there “will be consequences” for Saudi Arabia after its decision last week to side with Vladimir Putin and cut oil production.

“There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done, with Russia,” the US president said in an interview on CNN. “I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be – there will be consequences.”

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Family of man who died in Israeli detention rejects claim about deal

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Relatives of Palestinian Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, 78, say no settlement has been reached with Israeli defence ministry

The family of an elderly Palestinian-American man who died after being forcibly detained by Israeli soldiers has disputed a claim from Israel’s defence ministry that the parties have reached a compensation settlement.

In a rare case of compensation for a Palestinian claim of wrongdoing by Israeli forces, on Sunday the defence ministry said in a statement that it had reached a settlement with the family of 78-year-old Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad.

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British Museum urged to drop BP sponsor deal for Egypt exhibition

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Brian Eno, Ahdaf Soueif and Miriam Margolyes sign open letter about exhibition opening shortly before Cop27

Campaigners including the musician Brian Eno, the author Ahdaf Soueif and the actor Miriam Margolyes have criticised BP’s sponsorship of an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum.

The exhibition opens shortly before the critical Cop27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh this November.

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Iranian security forces intensify crackdown in Kurdistan

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Reports of indiscriminate violence come as UK ambassador summoned by Tehran over sanctions

Rights groups have sounded the alarm over an intensifying crackdown by Iranian security forces against protesters in the western province of Kurdistan, as Tehran summoned the British ambassador in response to UK sanctions against the morality police.

Security forces in the provincial capital, Sanandaj, have used firearms and fired teargas “indiscriminately”, including into people’s homes, Amnesty International reported.

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Israel and Lebanon reach ‘historic’ maritime border deal

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Israeli PM hails agreement that would mark significant compromise and may open way for energy exploration

Israel and Lebanon have reportedly agreed a deal in a dispute over gas fields and the two countries’ maritime border, a groundbreaking diplomatic achievement that could boost natural gas production in the Mediterranean before the European winter begins.

Yair Lapid, Israel’s prime minister, said on Tuesday that months of US-brokered negotiations had resulted in a “historic agreement” between the two nations, which have technically been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948. The deal would “strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border”, he added.

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‘Overlapping shocks’ are undoing efforts to end hunger in Africa, UN warns

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Urgent aid response needed as climate crisis, Covid, local conflicts and soaring fuel prices push millions more into hunger

• ‘We need urgent help’: Somalis displaced by drought and famine fight to survive

Decades of work to reduce hunger in Africa are being reversed as the continent struggles to cope with conflict, climate crisis and the global economic downturn, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has warned.

About 278 million people in Africa – approximately one-fifth of the total population – went hungry in 2021, an increase of 50 million people since 2019, according to UN figures. Based on current trends, this is projected to rise to 310 million by 2030.

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Kwasi Kwarteng’s secret meetings with Saudi oil firms revealed

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Exclusive: Meetings while in Saudi Arabia undisclosed due to ‘administrative oversight’, says business department

The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, held undisclosed meetings with senior executives of Saudi Arabian firms when he was the business secretary, documents acquired by the Guardian show.

The meetings occurred in January, when Kwarteng visited the kingdom for a two-day trip under his previous ministerial role.

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‘Immensely brave’: Abduljalil al-Singace named international writer of courage

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The Bahraini activist who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in anti-government protests was chosen to share the PEN Pinter prize by Malorie Blackman

The academic, activist and blogger Abduljalil al-Singace from Bahrain has been named this year’s international writer of courage by Malorie Blackman. Al-Singace is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in Bahrain’s 2011 anti-government protests.

The award is part of the PEN Pinter prize, which goes to an author deemed to have fulfilled Harold Pinter’s aspiration to “define the real truth of our lives and our societies”. This year’s PEN Pinter winner was Blackman, the first children’s writer to be awarded the prize. She chose al-Singace as the international writer of courage, an award for an author who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs, with whom she will share her prize.

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Gunshots and blasts heard at Mahsa Amini protests in Iran

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Government officials struggle to end demonstrations sparked by death in police custody of Kurdish woman

Gunshots and explosions were heard in the Iranian Kurdish city of Sanandaj on Monday as the protests over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini continued to unfold across the country and for first time spread to Iran’s crucial oil industry.

Government officials are struggling to end the protests led by young Iranians, especially women, previously regarded as uninterested by politics.

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