Week in Review: MENA – March 21, 2014 Share This /

The Obama administration faces an especially turbulent time in the region as it tries to balance the interests of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council members, contend with slow progress in Syria as the Assad regime regains its grip, and face mounting domestic opposition to the Iranian nuclear talks. Below is a roundup of some of the top articles and news highlights from around the Middle East and North Africa over the last week:

United States Policy:

• The White House announced that it is cancelling a planned summit meeting between the U.S. and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait – due to the tension between some GCC members and Qatar. President Obama will still meet with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh late next week.
• A U.S. Navy SEAL team intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea carrying an illicit Libyan oil shipment. The shipment was authorized by a Libyan militia that seized several important oil ports along the Libyan coast more than six months ago.
• The U.S. delivered 100 Hellfire missiles, assault rifles and ammunition to Iraq as part of its anti-terrorism assistance to the country.
• The House of Representatives passed H.R. 938, The U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, by an overwhelming 410-1 vote. The act elevates Israel from “major non-NATO ally” to a new designation as “major strategic partner.” The act also mandates myriad measures for enhancing Washington’s legal commitment to ensure Israel’s so-called Qualitative Military Edge. Beyond the $3.1 billion in annual military aid, billions in multiyear funding for joint missile defense and other defense-related perquisites, the proposed law extends cooperation into the energy, cyber and water sectors.
• The second round of talks between Iran and six world powers aimed at a permanent and comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program convened in Vienna on Tuesday. The Western powers were said to have presented a united front despite the split between the U.S. and Russia on the issue of Crimea. The talks ended on Wednesday with all sides expressing satisfaction with the results. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the U.S. Senate and close to 400 House members threatened more sanctions against Iran if it continues to develop its nuclear program. This move comes after a statement made by Vann Van Diepen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation, who said that Iran was still "very actively" creating front companies and engaging in other activities to conceal procurements for banned components for its nuclear and missile programs.
• A group of U.S. Senators called on President Obama to rethink his Syria strategy in order to change the balance of power on the ground, with reports indicating that President Assad’s forces are slowly regaining ground as the civil war marked the beginning of its fourth year. The Syrian regime is also preparing for a Presidential election, while rejecting further peace talks in Geneva that insist that President Assad relinquish power.

Other top security stories:

• Militants attacked a checkpoint in a northern suburb of Cairo, killing five soldiers. A military spokesman was quick to blame the Muslim Brotherhood, though a different militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the attack.
• A car bomb in Benghazi, Libya, targeted a graduation ceremony in the city’s military academy. Eight people were reportedly killed.
• Saudi Arabia is openly using Jordan as a staging ground for sending aid trucks into Syria and for coordinating a new effort to unite rebel forces near Jordan’s northern border with Syria. Syria has accused the Saudis and Jordanians of supplying rebels with arms.
• Israel is urging U.S. lawmakers not to stop the delivery of Apache combat helicopters to the Egyptian Army.
• The Libyan interim government has requested help from the UN and the international community to counter the wave of violence and instability plaguing the country.
• According to Issandr El Amrani, North Africa director for the International Crisis Group, militant violence is on the rise in Egypt. Other sources claim the violence is beginning to look like a country-wide “insurgency in its infancy.”
• Jordanian border guards intercepted two vehicles crossing from Syria loaded with arms and thousands of Captagon tablets, a drug widely used by Syrian rebels, the Jordanian army announced Thursday.
• Less than a dozen U.S. soldiers arrived in Libya in order to start selecting the Libyan troops who will undergo training sessions with U.S. and international forces in Bulgaria.
• Lockheed Martin Corp. has been awarded a $6,882,489 modification contract to develop, deliver and install defense equipment for the Egyptian air force. This award is a foreign military sale (FMS) for Egypt. Lockheed was also awarded a modification contract worth $65,280,712 to develop aeronautical equipment for the governments of Japan and Israel. Israel will pay 50 percent of the contract ($32,640,356) from its FMS account.