Showing posts with label Middle East. Show all posts

Top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini in Iran for key talks

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini (left) with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad ZarifImage copyrightAFP
Image captionFederica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have hailed the talks as the most significant in many years
The European Union foreign policy chief has held the highest-level talks between the EU and Iran in more than a decade.
Federica Mogherini is leading a delegation of seven EU commissioners for the discussions, which follow on from last year's historic nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
Her visit also marks the start of a new phase in relations.
Trade, energy and the environment are areas both sides are keen to explore.
The BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, who is travelling with the EU delegation, says that the signing of the nuclear deal paved the way for the lifting of financial sanctions against Iran.
At the same time Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has held talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential palace in Ankara.
They are reported to have discussed the Syrian conflict and strengthening trade links which they hope will rise to $30bn within two years.

Nuclear deal

Western sanctions linked to human rights and terrorism are still in place in Iran.
An Iranian money changer in Tehran's business district (20 January 2016)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionIran is especially eager for banking sector sanctions to be lifted
Ms Mogherini - on a one-day visit to Iran - told a news conference that the EU's policy on human rights worked on the principle of pursuing engagement and dialogue with Iran.
Iran's main objective from the nuclear talks was to secure access to the global financial markets, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the joint news conference.
Mr Zarif called on the Americans to fulfil their commitments in relation to the nuclear deal and remove obstacles to the banking sector.
Ms Mogherini is discussing the EU's remaining sanctions with the Iranian leadership as well as what is said to be one of her major concerns - bringing an end to Syria's punishing war which would also help resolve Europe's migration crisis.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (right) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara (16 April 2016)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionIranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) signed several business deals with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Saturday
Engaging directly with Iran - a key player in Syria - is for Europe one of the main benefits of the nuclear deal.
Iranian officials say they also want to strengthen this relationship - especially because the kind of dialogue taking place in Tehran on Saturday is still too politically sensitive for Iran to have with the United States, our correspondent says.
An Iranian money changer in Tehran's business district (20 January 2016)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionIran is especially eager for banking sector sanctions to be lifted
Six world powers led by the US agreed in July last year to lift sanctions that had locked down much of the Iran's economy for years in exchange for limits on Tehran's nuclear programme.
The move allowed Iran to resume a higher level of oil exports when the deal was implemented in January, as well as opening up more trade opportunities.

Palmyra: Syria forces 'enter Islamic State-held city'

Smoke billows from the Palmyra citadel on March 25, 2016, during a military operation by Syrian troops to retake the ancient city from the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group.Syrian government forces have advanced into Palmyra on several fronts backed by air strikes and artillery, a monitoring group has said.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting was the most intense yet seen in the army's campaign to recapture the city from so-called Islamic State (IS).
IS seized the Unesco World Heritage site and adjoining modern town in May.
It destroyed archaeological sites, drawing global outrage.
Two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers were left in ruins.
Government forces had taken neighbourhoods in the western and northern parts of the city, the observatory said.
Syrian state media said earlier the army had taken full control of the al-Amiriya district on Palmyra's northern edge.
TV footage showed repeated explosions and smoke rising from many buildings.
Image copyrightReuters
Image captionTroops are advancing into Palmyra, activists say
On Friday, Syria's official Sana news agency reported that troops, backed by Russian air strikes, had taken a reconstructed 13th Century castle perched on a hill to the west of the Roman-era ruins.
The castle, known as Qalaat Shirkuh or Qalaat Ibn Maan, sits on a 150m-high (500ft) hilltop overlooking the ruins and is of strategic importance, pro-government media reported.

Ancient city of Palmyra

This file photo taken on March 14, 2014 shows Syrian citizens riding their bicycles in the ancient oasis city of PalmyraImage copyrightAFP/Getty
  • Unesco World Heritage site
  • Site contains monumental ruins of great city, once one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world
  • Art and architecture, from the 1st and 2nd centuries, combine Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences
  • More than 1,000 columns, a Roman aqueduct and a formidable necropolis of more than 500 tombs made up the archaeological site
  • More than 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra every year before the Syrian conflict
Government forces briefly entered the town on Thursday but were pushed back.
The prospect of its liberation has been welcomed by Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, which has described the destruction of Palmyra as a war crime.
The jihadist group, which has also demolished several pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.
But the head of Syria's antiquities authority Mamoun Abdelkarim promised to repair as much of the damage as possible as a "message against terrorism".
Photo released by official Sana news agency purportedly showing Syrian government soldiers inspecting a damaged palace outside Palmyra (24 March 2016)Image copyrightAP
Image captionUnesco has called the destruction of Syria's heritage by IS militants a war crime
In addition to its ruins, Palmyra is situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
Recapturing Palmyra would be a significant victory for the government and Russia, which withdrew most of its forces last week after a six-month air campaign against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia's intervention is widely seen as having turned the tide of the five-year civil war in Mr Assad's favour.
Palmyra sites graphic

Iraq violence: Victims of IS football match attack buried

Mourners attend the funeral of a victim killed by a suicide bombing at a soccer field in IskandariyaIraq has buried the victims of a suicide attack in a football match in the city of Iskandariya that killed at least 32 people.
Many of the dead were young boys who were in a trophy ceremony hit by the bomber, himself said to be a teenager.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the attack.
IS is a mainly Sunni group which controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq, and has attacked numerous Shia targets in the country.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in Iraq for talks with the government, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the people and government of Iraq, and particularly those members of the families affected by terrorist attacks yesterday," he told reporters in Baghdad.
Mr Ban urged Iraqi leaders to step up reconciliation efforts between Shias and Sunnis in order to defeat IS.
Friday's attack happened in Iskandariya, a mainly Shia town 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad.
Video posted on social media showed the moment of the blast, as an official was speaking in front of a crowd of dozens of people, including the young players.
The footage cuts off with a big flash of yellow light. It then shows the chaos and screaming of people fleeing the area.
A medical official said 17 of the dead were boys aged between 10 and 16, AFP news agency reported.
Video posted on social media showed the moment of the explosionImage copyrightAP
Image captionVideo posted on social media showed the moment of the explosion
Mayor Ahmed Shaker was also killed, as was one of his bodyguards and at least five members of the security forces, it said.
Some 84 others were wounded, and 12 of them were said to be in critical condition.
People inspect the aftermath of a suicide bombing at a soccer field in IskandariyaImage copyrightAP
Image captionMany of those killed were teenagers - as was the bomber
Mourners attend the funeral of a victim killed by a suicide bombing at a soccer field in IskandariyaImage copyrightReuters
Image captionDozens of people took part in the funeral ceremonies in Iskandariya
Iskandariya is in a region that was once called "the triangle of death" and was badly affected by sectarian violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
In a statement, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he was "shocked" by what he described as a "tragedy".

'National reconciliation'

The UN chief also urged politicians to foster reconciliation with the minority Sunni, who say they were marginalised under the Shia-led government.
Some discontented Sunnis have joined IS and other extremist groups.
"National reconciliation is an important part of the strategy to defeat Daesh, who have ruthlessly exploited divisions and targeted the marginalized and disenfranchised," he said, using another name for IS.
IS has been losing some territory of its self-declared caliphate that includes parts of neighbouring Syria, and Iraqi forces have started an operation to retake Mosul, the largest city under the group's control.
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr protest outside the heavily guarded Green Zone in BaghdadImage copyrightEPA
Image captionSupporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have protested outside Baghdad's Green Zone
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of the powerful Shia cleric Moqtada Sadrcontinued their sit-in outside the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone, an area of government offices and embassies in Baghdad.
They have urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to announce a new-cabinet and fresh measures to fight corruption.
Mr Abadi said on Saturday a new cabinet would be announced within a week.
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