Week in Review: MENA – February 7, 2014 Share This /

Both the Senate and House of Representatives held hearings this week to examine U.S. policies in Iran and Iraq respectively while new development in Syria prompted a reevaluation of U.S. policy. Below is a roundup of top articles and news highlights from around the region over the last week:

United States Policy:

• The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a full committee meeting covering negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Lawmakers had been retreating in their attempt to pass a sanctions bill ever since President Obama’s State of the Union Address and subsequent administration efforts to stall progress on the bill. Congressional concerns still linger regarding supervision of Iran’s centrifuge production and activities at the Arak heavy-water reactor site. Further negotiations on a comprehensive deal with Iran are scheduled for February 18 in Vienna.
• The end of an unproductive second round of peace talks in Geneva on Friday was followed by news of Syrian delays  on its commitment to surrender its chemical weapons arsenal. These setbacks have led some officials to question the Obama Administration’s Syria policy. Meanwhile, new evidence surfaced of mass torture and human rights violations committed under the direction of the Assad regime, as violence continues to escalate and force civilians out of their homes. A breakthrough deal announced on Thursday, however, would allow civilians to evacuate the besieged city of Homs.
• The House Committee on Foreign Relations held a full committee hearing on Wednesday titled “Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence in Iraq: A Threat to U.S. Interests” in which the threat posed by new groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) was assessed. The committee convened following news that the central command of Al-Qaeda, signaling that it rejects the extreme level of rebel infighting in Syria, broke relations with ISIS. This week Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki began to revive the political alliance with Sunni tribes in an effort to beat back militant advances. Such efforts have received U.S. support in the form of weapons and tactical assistance, an initiative defended by an administration official in the aforementioned hearing.
• Geeta Pasi, U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti, made remarks at the Second Gulf of Aden Counterterrorism Forum where she reiterated the United States’ commitment to preventing the spread of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. 

Other top security stories:

• IHS Jane’s, a company which provides information on worldwide military, aerospace and transportation topics, released its analysis of global military spending, saying the Middle East was the fastest growing region in terms of military spending. A separate report by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies ranked Saudi Arabia the number one defense spender in the region.

• India and Israel moved forward on plans to jointly build an integrated anti-missile system to be deployed against Chinese nuclear and conventional missiles.

• Libya and the U.S. successfully destroyed what was left of Libya’s chemical weapons cache.

• Algeria bought a new amphibious ship from an Italian shipyard, marking another military procurement as its defense spending reportedly rose 14% in 2013 to $10.3 billion.

• Turkey announced that it is still open to bids for a missile defense system after earlier reports in September showed preliminary efforts to sign a deal with China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC). NATO and U.S. officials are concerned such a system would not be interoperable with existing NATO missile defense systems.

• Militant groups have stepped up their attacks throughout Egypt as Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prepares to run for president. Violence has been reported both in and around Cairo and in the Sinai Peninsula, where Ansar Bet al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for attacks on Egyptian army barracks and different sites in Israel. The Egyptian Army continued its counter extremism operations in the Sinai.