Trump thanks Tehran as American freed in prisoner swap

Yahoo – AFP, Elodie CUZIN, December 7, 2019

The US Ambassador to Switzerland Edward T. McMullen, Jr. welcomes Princeton
graduate student Xiyue Wang on arrival in Switzerland, after his release from
Iran on December 7, 2019 (AFP Photo/HO)

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump thanked Tehran for a "very fair" negotiation Saturday after an American scholar detained in the country was released in exchange for an Iranian scientist held in the United States.

Coming at a time of soaring tensions, the prisoner swap -- involving a Princeton graduate student jailed for espionage since 2016 and an Iranian national arrested over a year ago in Chicago -- took place in neutral Switzerland.

"Thank you to Iran on a very fair negotiation," tweeted Trump, as Xiyue Wang made his way home to his family.

"See, we can make a deal together!" wrote the US leader, who was expected to welcome Wang in person when he finally arrives in the United States, after a stop in Germany for medical evaluations.

A photo tweeted by the American Embassy in Bern showed Wang on a rainswept tarmac in Zurich with an official blue and white US jet in the background, hugging ambassador Edward McMullen.

The Chinese-born American was in apparent good health and in "very, very good humor," said a senior US administration official.

Tehran had announced the release of its national, Massoud Soleimani, shortly before Trump revealed that Wang was returning home.

"Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr. Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted -- along with a photograph of himself and the scientist on a plane under the words "Going home."

"Many thanks to all engaged, particularly the Swiss government," which has looked after US interests in Iran in the absence of diplomatic ties, Zarif said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted photos of himself

on a plane with freed scientist Massoud Soleimani (AFP Photo)

The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed that the exchange -- which it called a "humanitarian gesture" -- took place on its territory. It was credited by both sides with an intensive diplomatic effort to secure the men's release.

"Our country stands ready for further facilitation, in accordance with its long-lasting tradition of good offices," the foreign ministry statement said.

'Hopeful' sign

The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic ties since 1980, and relations have sharply worsened since Trump withdrew from an international accord giving Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

The arch-enemies came to the brink of military confrontation in June this year when Iran downed a US drone and Trump ordered retaliatory strikes before cancelling them at the last minute.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was "pleased that Tehran has been constructive in this matter."

Briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, the senior US official noted that Trump "remains committed to talks with Iran without preconditions" -- about Iran's nuclear program, its "malign activities" in the Middle East, and the deadly mass protests that have gripped the country.

While Tehran has so far rebuffed US offers of talks, the official said: "We're hopeful that the release of Mr. Wang is a sign that the Iranians may be willing to come to the table to discuss all these issues."

The official also voiced hope "the release of Mr Wang is a sign that the Iranians are realizing that the practice of hostage taking diplomacy, really should come to an end."

Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang, pictured with his family before he 

was detained in Iran in August 2016 (AFP Photo/Hua Qu)

A doctoral candidate at Princeton, Wang was conducting research for his dissertation on late 19th- and early 20th-century Eurasian history when he was imprisoned in August 2016. He was serving 10 years on espionage charges.

"He was not a spy, he was not involved in espionage and, and was wrongfully detained from the start," the US official said.

A statement on the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website said Wang had been "freed on Islamic clemency."

Soleimani, a professor and senior stem cell researcher at Tehran's Tarbiat Modares University, was arrested on arrival at Chicago airport in October 2018 for allegedly attempting to ship growth hormones, according to Iranian media.

The US official confirmed the Justice Department has dropped charges against Soleimani, calling the swap a "reciprocal humanitarian gesture" and a "very, very good deal for the United States."

"There's been absolutely no payments of cash or lifting of sanctions or any sort of concessions or ransom," the official said.

Spying allegations

Rob Malley, president of the International Crisis Group consultancy, called it a "rare bit of good news on US-Iran front."

"But several other Americans remain unjustly detained in Iran and they should be released too," he cautioned. "They should not be used as pawns in the two countries' fraught relationship."

Foreign nationals still held in Iran include former US soldier Michael R. White, British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, French academic Roland Marchal and Australian university lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert.

Two other Australians, travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin, were released in October by Iran, in another apparent swap for Iranian student Reza Dehbashi.

In September, Negar Ghodskani, an Iranian woman sentenced in the United States for violating sanctions against Tehran was released and returned home after giving birth in custody.

An unknown number of Iranians are detained abroad.

Palestinians ask UN court to revoke US Jerusalem embassy move

Yahoo – AFP, September 29, 2018

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki (pictured June 2018) said that
Palestinians have filed a lawsuit against the United States at the International
Court of Justice for moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem (AFP Photo/
Yasser Al-Zayyat)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Saturday the Palestinians have petitioned the UN's top court, alleging that the US inauguration of an embassy in Jerusalem was illegal.

The Palestinians have filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) "for violating international law by moving its embassy in Israel to the occupied city of Jerusalem", he said, quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In December, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Palestinian claims on part of the city and breaking with longstanding US policy.

Palestinians have since refused all contact with the Trump administration.

The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, a day marked by mass protest in the Gaza Strip, where about 60 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli fire in border clashes.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem along with the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and later declared the entire city its united capital.

Palestinians claim the predominantly Arab eastern area as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

UN resolutions call on countries to refrain from moving their embassies to the city until its status is resolved in an Israeli-Palestinian deal.

"The ICJ was asked to declare that moving the embassy to occupied Jerusalem constituted a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," WAFA wrote in English.

The court said the Palestinian suit, filed on Friday, called on the body "to order the United States of America to withdraw the diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem and to conform to the international obligations flowing from the Vienna Convention".

An official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said it was the first time Palestinians had petitioned the court against the United States.

In November 2012, the UN General Assembly recognised the Palestinian Authority as a "non-member observer state".

This allowed the Palestinians to join UN bodies such as the ICJ and also the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is a separate institution.

Previously, the Palestinians had asked the UN General Assembly to seek a ruling on their behalf over Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

In 2004, the court issued a non-binding ruling that the network of walls and fences was illegal and called for sections to be dismantled.

Israel said it had no intention of complying.

The ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Neither the United States nor Israel are signatories to the ICC.

Earlier this month, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians had filed a petition there against Israel over its pending demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.

They have previously filed suit to the ICC claiming Israeli war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Callista Gingrich takes over as US ambassador to Vatican

Yahoo – AFP, December 22, 2017

Wearing a traditional black mantilla, Callista Gingrich presented her credentials to
Pope Francis at the Vatican before officially beginning her new role (AFP Photo/HO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Callista Gingrich, wife of the former House speaker Newt Gingrich, on Friday began her duties as the new US ambassador to the Vatican.

Wearing a traditional black mantilla, she presented her credentials to Pope Francis at the Vatican before officially taking on her role.

The appointment carries some controversy: she is the former speaker's third wife, and had an affair with him when she was a young congressional aide named Callista Bisek and he was still married to his second wife.

In 1999 Gingrich divorced his second wife and the pair married the following year. She is credited with her husband's conversion to Catholicism.

Newt Gingrich was one of the few big-name Republicans to support Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

A self-described devout Catholic, Callista Gingrich hopes to work with the Vatican to "defend human rights, advance religious freedom and combat human trafficking," according to a statement released by the US embassy.

On Thursday she and her husband attended the funeral of disgraced American Cardinal Bernard Law at the Vatican.

Law, a once-senior church figure, was forced to resign in 2002 after revelations he failed to stop paedophile priests in one of the biggest crises in American Catholicism. He had been serving in a low-key position in a Rome basilica.

Callista Gingrich, a 51-year-old businesswoman, currently heads Gingrich Productions, a multimedia company and has written a series of children's books.

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Pete Hoekstra with president Donald Trump. Photo: Facebook

US to cut 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, says Putin

Yahoo – AFP, Maria PANINA, July 30, 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony for Russia's Navy Day
in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said the United States would have to cut 755 diplomatic staff in Russia and warned of a prolonged gridlock in its ties after the US Congress backed new sanctions against the Kremlin.

Putin added bluntly that Russia was able to raise the stakes with America even further, although he hoped this would be unnecessary.

On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry demanded Washington cut its diplomatic presence in Russia by September 1 to 455 people -- the same number Moscow has in the US.

"More than a thousand people -- diplomats and technical personnel -- were working and are still working" at the US embassy and consulates, Putin said in an interview with Rossia-24 television.

"755 people must stop their activities in Russia."

The US State Department, solicited for a response by AFP, said it did not comment on "the number" of US officials serving abroad.

Putin added that an upturn in Russia's relations with Washington could not be expected "any time soon".

"We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better," he said.

"But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it's not for any time soon."

Raise the stakes?

Putin warned that Russia could further ratchet up the pressure, but he hoped this would not be needed.

Russia still "has things to say and is able to further restrict areas of common activities, which may be sensitive for the American side," he said.

If the damage inflicted by "attempts to pressure Russia" rises further, "we are able to look at other forms of retaliation. But I hope we won't have to do it," he said.

"For the time being, I am against" any additional riposte, Putin said.

On Thursday, the US Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Iran and North Korea are also targeted in the sanctions bill.

The law now goes to President Donald Trump who had made an improvement in ties with Russia a plank of his election campaign -- a position that his critics said was inexplicable.

Moscow on Friday ordered the US to slash its number of diplomats in Russia to 455 by September 1.

It also froze two embassy compounds -- a Moscow summer house and a storage facility in the city -- from August 1.

"I thought that we should show that we too are not going to stand by without a response" after "the baseless measures taken by the American side," Putin said.

In December, then US president Barack Obama ordered out 35 Russian diplomats and closed down two embassy summer houses that Washington said were being used by Moscow for espionage.

At the time, the Kremlin said it would put any retaliation on hold until after Trump took office.

Hacking 'cooperation'

High on the list of US grievances is the allegation that Russian operatives hacked Democratic Party computers at the peak of the troubled 2016 election campaign.

Putin on Sunday said Russia had proposed "several times establishing cooperation with the American side" on cyber-security.

"But instead of starting to work constructively, all we hear are baseless accusations about interference in the internal affairs of the United States," he complained.

Putin and Trump, meeting on the sidelines of the July 7-8 G20 summit in Hamburg, talked about setting up what Trump called an "impenetrable cyber security unit" to prevent hacking in future elections.

Senior members of Trump's Republican Party poured scorn on the concept.

Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate's armed services committee, said the notion was "not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but it's pretty close."

Former presidential candidate John McCain said sarcastically he was "sure that Vladimir Putin could be of enormous assistance in that effort, since he's doing the hacking."

UN Security Council backs new Syria peace initiative

Yahoo - AFP, 17 Aug 2015

The UN Security Council agreed a political statement on 

Syria and French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek, pictured

 on September 16, 2013, hailed the newfound unity as

 "historic" (AFP Photo/Stan Honda)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations Security Council on Monday backed a new push for peace talks in Syria in a measure adopted by Damascus ally Russia and the other 14 member states.

It was the first time in two years that the council agreed a political statement on Syria and French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek hailed the newfound unity as "historic."

Venezuela, which has friendly relations with Syria, disassociated itself from parts of the statement, which called for a political transition to end the four-year war.

Caracas envoy Rafael Ramirez said the council was setting "a very dangerous precedent" by supporting a plan that he said violated Syria's right to self-determination.

The 16-point statement drafted by France had been under negotiation since UN envoy Staffan de Mistura presented his new approach for peace talks to the council last month.

The peace initiative, set to begin in September, would set up four working groups to address safety and protection, counterterrorism, political and legal issues and reconstruction.

The adoption came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran to try to advance prospects for ending the war that has left at least 240,000 dead.

Transition for Syria

The council demanded all sides work for an end to the war by "launching a Syrian-led political process leading to a political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."

The peace process includes "the establishment of an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers, which shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent while ensuring continuity of governmental institutions."

The statement made no specific mention of President Bashar al-Assad's future, but Western governments have made clear that a transition would involve his exit from power, at some point in time.

The council expressed "grave alarm that the Syria crisis has become the largest humanitarian emergency crisis in the world today," with some 12 million Syrians forced to flee their homes.

The statement was adopted a day after Syrian government air strikes on a rebel-held town near Damascus killed at least 96 people in one of the bloodiest regime attacks in the war.

The French envoy stressed that progress on defining a new government for Syria would bolster the campaign against Islamic State militants who have gained territory in Syria over the past year.

"We will not defeat Daesh without an organized transition in Syria," said Lamek, using the Arabic name for Islamic State.

Russia has recently floated a plan to enlist the Damascus regime in the campaign against Islamic State jihadists but this was rejected by Saudi Arabia, a key member of the US-led coalition fighting IS.

The council requested that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon report back to the council on the next phase of consultations led by his envoy within 90 days.

Kerry calls for democracy in Cuba as US flag raised

Yahoo – AFP, Nicolas Revise, 14 Aug 2015

US Secretary of State John Kerry (C), stands with other dignitaries as members

 of the US Marines raise the US flag over the newly reopened embassy in Havana,

Cuba on August 14, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Havana (AFP) - Secretary of State John Kerry called Friday for "genuine democracy" in Cuba as the American flag was raised over a US embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years.

Marking a milestone in the United States' historic rapprochement with Cuba, Kerry gave the cue to hoist the Stars and Stripes over the glass-and-concrete building on the Havana waterfront.

Three retired Marines who lowered the flag on January 4, 1961 -- as Washington severed ties with Havana at the height of the Cold War -- were present to hand the new flag to the Marine guard now charged with security at the embassy.

The symbolic moment served as a picture-perfect coda to eight months of quick changes since the December 17 rapprochement announcement by US President Barack Obama and Cuban counterpart Raul Castro, which paved the way for the two countries to reopen their embassies on July 20.

Kerry, the first secretary of state to visit Cuba since 1945, said the shift in US policy did not mean Washington would stop pressing for change on the communist island.

"The leaders in Havana and the Cuban people should also know that the United States will always remain a champion of democratic principles and reforms," he said, in a speech delivered partly in Spanish.

"We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy where people are free to choose their leaders."

Kerry later shed his jacket and tie to take a stroll around Old Havana, checking out a stand selling Cuban cigars and humidors as he got a tour of the colonial district, surrounded by bodyguards, journalists and curious onlookers.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno

 Rodriguez deliver a joint press conference at the National Hotel in Havana, 

on August 14, 2015 (AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)

Change?

Back in the United States, Obama's conservative opponents had harsh words on the thawing of the Cold War conflict.

Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American senator from Florida, was among those who slammed the Obama administration for the absence of Cuban dissidents from the flag-raising ceremony.

"All the people in Cuba fighting for democracy -- when they protest, they are rounded up, arrested and beaten. None of them were invited to this event," he told Fox News.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the country was ready to discuss any issue with the United States, including human rights -- "though we may not always agree," he added, speaking alongside Kerry at a joint press conference.

Since the rapprochement was announced, the two sides have made progress on a number of divisive issues, most notably the removal of Cuba from Washington's list of "state sponsors of terrorism."

But Rodriguez warned that Cuba still has tough demands of its own as the two sides continue talks.

They include the full lifting of the "blockade" -- or economic embargo -- that the US has maintained on Cuba since 1962 and the return of the "usurped" Cuban territory of the American navy base at Guantanamo Bay, he said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry stops at a local vendor during his visit to

 the Plaza de San Francisco in Old Havana, Cuba, on August 14, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Wary dissidents

Kerry was due to meet privately later with Cuban dissidents, who long counted Washington as their main ally and have voiced concern the new thaw will leave them out in the cold.

Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White -- one of the most high-profile dissident groups -- said she had no plans to attend the event.

"It's a low-profile reception with speeches and that kind of thing. We can't waste our time on that," Soler told AFP.

Kerry will not meet with either Castro or his elder brother Fidel, the icon who led Cuba from its 1959 revolution until his retirement in 2006.

Underlining the sticking points still complicating relations, Fidel Castro said in an essay published in Cuban state media Thursday -- his 89th birthday -- that the United States owes Cuba "many millions of dollars" because of the trade embargo.

Cuba says the embargo has cost it $116 billion.

The United States for its part says Cuba owes $7 billion to American citizens and companies whose property was seized after Castro came to power.

Kerry reiterated that the Obama administration "strongly favors" lifting the embargo.

But Obama faces an uphill battle as he needs approval from Congress, where both houses are currently controlled by his Republican opponents -- many of them deeply hostile to Havana.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno

Rodriguez shake hands during a press conference at the State Department on

July 20, 2015 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

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Indonesia, Netherlands Organize Harm Reduction Talks at UNODC

Jakarta Globe, Natasia Christy, Mar 11, 2015

A casket carrying the body of Ang Kiem Soei, a Dutch national executed by
firing squad on Jan. 18, seen in an ambulance on the prison island of
 Nusakambangan, off Central Java. (EPA Photo/Bayu Nur)

Jakarta. As the Australia-Indonesia diplomatic rift over the pending executions of two drug convicts shows no signs of abating, ties with the Netherlands — which recalled its ambassador after one of its nationals was executed in January — seem to be on the mend.

On Tuesday, Indonesia and the Netherlands jointly organized a discussion on harm reduction on the sidelines of the 58th Commission on Narcotic Drugs session, at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna.

At the discussion, three experts, including Edo Agustian from the Indonesian Network of Drug Victims (PKNI), discussed ways to limit the spread of HIV as a consequence of drug use, a statement on the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s website said.

According to Edo, the Indonesian law enforcement system — with a primary focus on punishment instead of rehabilitation — has not been conducive in bringing down the number of infections.

Ambassador Rob Swartbol was called back to the Netherlands for consultations after the execution of Dutch national Ang Kiem Soei, on Jan.18. In a letter to the Dutch parliament, Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in early February that Swartbol had returned to Jakarta.

Koenders explained that the Netherlands opposes the death penalty in principle and that one of its government’s goals is to try and get Indonesia to abolish the punishment. The minister added, however, that it was important to be represented in Indonesia at the ambassadorial level.

“I would like to investigate the possibilities to cooperate with Indonesia to fight drug-related problems,” Koenders said in the letter.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, in the statement posted on its website on Wednesday, said: “The cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands in handling drugs is not affected by the difference of opinion over the death penalty.”

According to data from the Indonesian Health Ministry, the number of people living with HIV and AIDS as a consequence of drug use grew from 186,000 in 2009 to 640,000 in 2013.

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Wife of Lashed Saudi Blogger Calls for His Release

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jan 14, 2015

Ensaf Haidar, center, the wife of the Saudi Blogger Raef Badawi, holds a vigil in
 Montreal, Quebec on Jan. 13, 2015 urging Saudi Arabia to free her husband who
was flogged in public on Jan. 9, 2015 near a mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah,
receiving 50 lashes for ‘insulting Islam’. (AFP Photo/Clement Sabourin)

Montreal. The wife of a Saudi blogger who was publicly flogged for “insulting Islam” called for his release on Tuesday.

“My husband, Raef Badawi, is imprisoned for simply expressing liberal ideas,” Ensaf Haidar, who sought asylum in Canada with her three children after Badawi was arrested, told a news conference in Montreal.

In September, a Saudi court upheld a sentence of 10 years in prison as well as the 1,000 lashes for Badawi, who has been behind bars since June 2012.

The 31-year-old received the first installment of 50 lashes last Friday and is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete.

“We’re here so that he won’t have to endure another 50 lashes next Friday,” said Beatrice Vaugrante of Amnesty International.

“We talk a lot about freedom of speech nowadays: I am Charlie, I am Raef Badawi,” she said. “This concerns Canada, it concerns all Western nations that advocate freedom of expression.”

The Canadian government has called the public lashing “inhumane” but said it was limited in what it could do for Badawi beyond expressions of outrage as the blogger is not Canadian.

Agence France-Presse

Protesters demand the immediate release of Saudi blogger,

 Raif Badawi, in front of the Saudi Embassy in The Hague.

Photograph: Martijn Beekman/EPA

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US to meet Cuba January 21-22 for first talks on new ties

Yahoo – AFP, 8 Jan 2015

An old car with the Cuban flag painted on the trunk is seen near the Capitol
of Havana, on January 7, 2015 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Washington (AFP) - The United States and Cuba will meet on January 21-22 for their first talks on normalizing diplomatic relations disrupted for half a century, a US official said Thursday.

Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America Roberta Jacobson will lead the US delegation to the groundbreaking talks in Havana, said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Jacobson is set to be the highest-ranking US official to visit the Caribbean island in several decades. She last set foot in Cuba in 2011 when she held a lower office at the State Department.

But Psaki cautioned it would be the first step in a process set in motion last month by President Barack Obama which should lead to the two countries reopening embassies and appointing new ambassadors.

Obama ordered his administration to initiate steps to normalize relations with Cuba and is hoping to persuade Congress to lift the 54-year-old US trade embargo which he has described as "self-defeating."

But critics have raised concerns about continuing abuses of human rights by the communist authorities on the island of 11 million. The government does not guarantee basic rights such as assembly and free speech; political parties other than the Communist Party are illegal.

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Latin America turns against Israel on Gaza

Throughout Latin America, criticism of Israel's operation in the Gaza Strip is on the rise. Nations with a colonial history of their own regard Israel as an occupying power.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Aug 2014

In Latin America, Brazil is on the forefront of politics critical of Israel.

After Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations in July, several other countries in the region quickly followed suit: Chile, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

"Almost all countries in Latin America follow Brazil's position," says Salem Hikmat Nasser, an expert on international law at Brazil's:link:http://portal.fgv.br/en# Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV) University.# "They see the war in Gaza as the Palestinians' national struggle toward liberation in the face of a colonial occupying power."

Latin America's own colonial history is a common denominator in the region's critical attitude toward Israel. At the Mercosur summit last month in Caracas, the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay urgently demanded an "investigation of all violations of international humanitarian law and crimes in the Gaza Strip, and the identification of those responsible."

Appeal to Security Council

Following the second bombing of UN quarters in Gaza, Argentina, too, reacted. "Buenos Aires regards the Israeli military attacks on a United Nations school to be a criminal act that must be investigated in order to bring those responsible to court," a Foreign Ministry statement said on August 3, adding that the Security Council must intervene.

Mercosur leaders condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza

Brazil's increasingly critical position toward Israel is the result of a change of tack in foreign policy strategies during Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's presidency. Contrary to previous Israel-friendly Brazilian governments, Lula da Silva focused on closer political ties to the Arab world during his 2003- 2010 term.

On December 1, 2010 Brazil officially recognized Palestine as a state. Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Uruguay quickly followed suit, long after Cuba, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic had already taken similar steps.

"Brazil always signaled a special bond with Israel, and it didn't want to violate the country's interests," Nasser says, arguing that this position changed under President Lula. His successor Dilma Rousseff continued Lula's course. Last month, Brazil supported a resolution critical of Israel by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

"Diplomatic dwarf"

Brazil's Foreign Ministry also condemned "Israel's disproportionate use of violence in the Gaza Strip," and summoned the Israeli ambassador in the capital Brasilia. At the same time, Brazil's ambassador to Israel was recalled for consultations. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor subsequently referred to Brazil as a "diplomatic dwarf," and dismissed Brazilian diplomacy as simply "irrelevant."

Brazilian sociologist Demetrio Magnoli of Sao Paulo University is one of the few who agree with the critical voices from Israel. "Brazil turned into a diplomatic dwarf when Lula introduced his new foreign policies 11 years ago," the well-known critic and foreign policy expert told the national media.

For ex-President Lula, the ideological interests of Brazil's PT Workers' Party came first. As a result, Brazilian foreign policies were not consistent, Magnoli argues, pointing out that the government "remained silent in the face of human rights abuse in Cuba, Venezuela and Russia, but criticized the disproportionate use of violence in Gaza."

Technology "Made in Israel"

Despite the current political ice age between Israel and South America, trade ties are strong thanks to the Mercosur bloc's freed trade agreement with Israel. Trade between Brazil and Israel in particular is on the rise. From 2003 to 2013, exports to Israel increased from $187 million (139.9 million euros) to $454 million annually, the Brazilian Trade Ministry reports.

At the same time, imports from Israel increased from $318 million to $1.1 billion. Brazil mainly exports food to Israel, and mainly imports technology and military goods.

Be that as it may, Israel has lost the battle for the Latin American public's favorable opinion, Salem Nasser says. "It's time for Brazil to take a stronger stance, even if the Jewish community in the country is well-organized," he says. "Brazil is anything but a diplomatic dwarf." 

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Iran 'to name first female ambassador'

Google – AFP, 27 August 2013

A woman flashes a victory sign as she holds a portrait of Hassan Rowhani

after elections in Tehran on June 15, 2013 (AFP/File, Behrouz Mehri)

TEHRAN — Iran plans to appoint a woman ambassador and a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry for the first time in the Islamic republic's history, Iranian media reports said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "wants to employ women for two post: as spokesperson and to lead an embassy," current ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said, quoted in the media.

A final decision is expected "within a week," Araqchi said.

President Hassan Rowhani, a moderate cleric whose all-male cabinet took power earlier this month, has reportedly asked the government to appoint women to high-level posts in the Islamic republic, which was founded in 1979.

Rowhani has already named two women: Elham Aminzadeh , who like himself holds a doctorate in law from the University of Glasgow, as vice president for parliamentary affairs, and Parvin Dadandish as his women's affairs advisor.

His predecessor as president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, secured approval from the conservative-dominated parliament to appoint Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi as the republic's first-ever female minister.

Dastjerdi was sacked as health minister in late 2012 over disagreements with Ahmadinejad over price hikes for imported drugs.

Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, in office from 1997 to 2005, appointed Massoumeh Ebtekar as vice president in charge of environmental protection.

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