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Week In Review
Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 1441 to Dhu al-Hijjah 12, 1441
(2020-07-27 to 2020-08-02)

In this section, Crescent International will highlight news and events that do not attract much media Attention. We will provide our brief analysis. Hyperlinked references will be provided for confirmation, corroboration and crediting purposes.

Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 14412020-07-27

UK parliament's report on Russia implicates British establishment

As the Russian interference hype continues to impress and shock poorly-informed average citizens of the West, those with better understanding of current affairs have a hard time accepting Russia as the bogeyman narrative.

In an in-depth analytical column for the Middle East Eye (MEE), Marco Carnelos , former Italian diplomat, pointed out some serious flaws in the report released by British parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) on Russian activity in the UK.

Carnelos correctly pointed out that “the naked reality is that all nations attempt to interfere in other nations’ politics, and Russia is no exception... It is becoming more and more incomprehensible to blame nations like Russia for certain questionable actions when some Western nations do the same.”

The former diplomat also pointed out that even though the British report highlighted how Britain’s ruling caste has worked closely with Russian billionaires and close Putin confidants, this aspect of the report thrust into the background.

Courtesy: Middle East Eye

Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 14412020-07-27

First signs of treaty violations in Afghanistan

Qatar regime’s TV channel, Al Jazeera, reported that the Taliban issued a statement accusing the US-installed puppet regime of recapturing freed prisoners.

According to Al Jazeera “Suhail Shaheen, Taliban spokesman at its Doha office, on Saturday [July 25] wrote on Twitter that the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Intelligence, had conducted surprise operations against the released fighters… Shaheen also said the released prisoners had adhered to instructions from the Afghan government to stay at home and not return to the battlefields. But a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Security Council Adviser, Javid Faisal, on Sunday [July 26] said a number of released prisoners have returned to the battlefields. Faisal also rejected the Taliban's claims that there had been operations to re-arrest released prisoners.”

Those familiar with the track record of Washington’s conduct of international relations should not be surprised if the US and its proxies end up violating the peace treaty with the Taliban in the same manner as they canceled the JCPOA treaty with Iran and overstepped UN Security Council resolution on Libya in 2011.

It appears that the US and its local Afghan proxies fully realize that once the US military is booted out of Afghanistan, the Taliban will come to power. This will be a serious blow to America’s already declining super-power status.

Courtesy: Al Jazeera

Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 14412020-07-27

Saudis may be behind curbs on Al-Azhar’s independence

Egypt’s autocratic ruler Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is pushing a law to further weaken al-Azhar University.

As reported by the Middle East Eye, “the Egyptian parliament and al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Islamic world, are locking horns over the approval of a new bill that strips the latter of control over Dar al-Ifta, by far the most important religious authority in Egypt… Most importantly, the bill gives President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the right to appoint the mufti, Egypt's top Islamic jurist, for the first time. According to the new bill, the president has to pick one candidate from three nominated by the Council of Senior Scholars, al-Azhar’s decision-making body.”

As highlighted by TRT world the 1,200-year-old institution of Al Azhar was established as an independent Islamic scholarly body but “as its independence has waned, scholars who are close to the military dictatorships that have ruled Egypt since 1952, have found themselves in higher positions than those who have opposed autocratic politicians.”

It may very well be that the attempt to further weaken Al-Azhar is a plan concocted with the Saudi regime whose soft-power has declined drastically since Mohammed bin Salman’s ascension to power.

Saudi institutions of Islamic learning in Madinah have not been able to exercise much influence over Muslims over the past ten to fifteen years. For decades the Saudis have peddled their narrow-minded nonsense as ideology by disbursing petrodollars. Given its disastrous consequences for the Ummah, this no longer works even with its own agents. To make sure the void is not filled by the traditional seat of Sunni Islam, Riyadh might have nudged el-Sisi to further reduce Al-Azhar’s independence.

Courtesy: Middle East Eye, TRT World.

Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 14412020-07-27

Iran is determined to break Western economic blockade

On July 22, Islamic Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif ended his visit to Moscow during which he delivered a special message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Upon return to Tehran, Zarif told reporters that the message from President Hassan Rouhani revolved around bilateral matters and issues related to Iran’s nuclear treaty with several Western countries including Russia and China.

According to Washington based al-monitor.com, “top Iranian diplomat also said he had discussed with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov plans for a 20-year partnership agreement. A similar but shorter-term deal is already in place between Tehran and Moscow but will expire in March. Zarif noted that the two sides have agreed on signing a more comprehensive treaty.”

If Tehran manages to cement a trilateral economic treaty with Russia and China, Western sanctions will remain completely irrelevant to Iran. This means that Islamic Iran’s geopolitical significance in the Muslim world will continue to grow even more rapidly.

Courtesy: Al-monitor.com

Dhu al-Hijjah 06, 14412020-07-27

US warplanes’ aerial thuggery in the skies over Syria

As reported by various international media outlets, US military airplane caused injuries to Iranian civilians on board Airbus A340 operated by Iran’s Mahan Airlines when it was harassed in Syrian airspace.

 According to Press TV, “US warplanes harassed an Iranian passenger plane approaching the Beirut airport two times in six minutes during the Thursday (July 23) terrorist incident… US warplanes, which harassed the Iranian civilian aircraft on Thursday night took off from al-Azraq air base in Jordan, adding that al-Azraq air base is presumably the same base from which a US drone took off to assassinate the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Quds Force, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and his companions.”

It is not the first time the US has targeted an Iranian civilian airplane. On July 3, 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, with 290 people on board was shot down by a missile fired from the USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai. 

In 1990, Captain of the Vincennes, William C. Rogers III, was awarded the Legion of Merit by George Bush Sr. “for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer [...] from April 1987 to May 1989”.

Courtesy: Press TV

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