Week in Review: MENA - April, 11 2014

04/11/14
Amit Paz
Middle East and North Africa
U.S. Policy, Foreign Policy, Counterterrorism

Congress, the Treasury Department, and the White House all unveiled new legislation and policies designed to encumber Syrian officials, Hezbollah’s assets, and Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations. 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:

  • According to a senior Obama administration official, the drafting of a comprehensive agreement with Iran will begin in May, as Iran and the P5+1 are slowly closing the gaps that remain between their respective positions. Meanwhile, two former Obama administration advisors called for the United States to reintroduce the threat of military force against Iran in the event that negotiations fail.
  • After Iran named a new, controversial ambassador to the United Nations, the White House rejected the candidate and the Senate voted unanimously to bar the ambassador from entering the United States. In response, Iran reaffirmed its intention to appoint the ambassador.
  • The U.S. Treasury Department granted a license to Boeing Co. to sell Iran safety-related parts for its 1970s-stock aircraft fleet. Similarly, GE said it was given permission to overhaul 18 engines that were sold to Iran in the 1970s.
  • After lagging behind schedule on its chemical weapons delivery requirements, Syria shipped out an undisclosed amount of chemical weapons last Friday, though close to half of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal remains in the country.
  • According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary of State John Kerry, frustrated with scope of the Obama administration’s Syria policy, has been pressing the Pentagon to allow increased U.S. engagement with moderate Syrian rebels. The report alleges that Kerry was repeatedly rebuffed by Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, General Dempsey, and Secretary of Defense, Check Hagel.
  • Secretary Kerry appeared before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the FY15 State and Foreign Operations budget request. During the highly critical hearing, a majority of committee members confronted Kerry with a long list of grievances and questions having to do with the perceived diplomatic failings of the Obama administration. Kerry defended his policies, among them, his efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, a political settlement to the civil war in Syria, and a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran.
  • The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released The Syrian Sanctions Regulations on Wednesday, a framework for financial sanctions against Syrian-held assets, only to be withdrawn the next day. A spokeswoman explained that "we withdrew the regulations related to Syria sanctions to make technical and administrative corrections.”
  • In a Department of Defense Press Briefing, General David M. Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command, commented on the security conditions in Libya and the military-to-military relationship between Libya and the U.S. Gen Rodriguez said that the arms trade in southwestern Libya and northern Mali is fueling conflict in the region and that a U.S. training program is waiting on funding from the Libyan government to proceed as planned.
  • The Department of State designated Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, an Egyptian militant group, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.

 

Other top security stories:

  • Tribal clashes in the southern Egyptian province of Aswan left at least 23 people dead and dozens injured. The Egyptian military was quickly deployed to restore order and suggested, without evidence, that the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the violence.
  • Iraqi military operations near Fallujah left 21 soldiers dead after an explosion in a booby-trapped house and ensuing clashes trapped a group of soldiers searching the house. Fallujah and the immediate environs are still heavily contested between the Iraqi military and militant forces.
  • Qatar announced its plans to spend approximately $23 billion on new equipment for its armed forces in the largest round of arms purchases Qatar has ever conducted. The contracts include three Boeing 737-based airborne early-warning-and-control aircraft, two Airbus A330-200 multirole tanker transports, 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and 22 NH Industries NH90 utility helicopters ordered through the French government.