Official: Nuclear Talks a Test for P5+1 Armenian Patriarch Condemns Insulting Cartoon TEHRAN (Press TV) -- A senior official said here on Sunday Iran will show a proper reaction to the P5+1 countries in proportion to their approaches and performance in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program. “The opposite side is to blame for any obstruction in the path of negotiations and adoption of approaches that have been proved futile in the past,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said in a meeting with Georgian Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili. He said nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries are a test of those countries’ commitment to the negotiations and pledges to remove all “illegal and cruel” sanctions. TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church on Sunday censured France for the publication of sacrilegious cartoons insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), saying these moves indicate that the European country has strayed far from the principles of Christianity. “The European countries do not live according to the principles of Christianity,” Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni said. He went on to say that sometime in the past, France was one of the countries with deep-rooted Christian faith, but the desecration of the Prophet Muhammad has showed that today the country has moved far away from the principles of Christianity. VOL NO: LV 9678 TEHRAN / Est.1959 2 Viewpoint By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer How to Defeat Zionist Apartheid? 5 Monday, January 26, 2015, Bahman 6, 1393, Rabi as-Sani 5, 1436, Price 10000 Rials 7 Japan Condemns ISIL Execution of Hostage Why Is the U.S. Stuck With Saudi Arabia? Kurdish Forces’ Rockets Strike Iraq’s ISIL-Held Mosul 8 Fatah Calls for Anti-Zionist Protest Across Palestine At Least 15 Killed on Anniversary: Egypt: Flames of Revolution Flare Up By: Matt Schiavenza The death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, who passed away Friday due to complications from a lung infection, elicited a series of gushing tributes from American leaders. In his official statement, President Obama praised his “enduring contribution to the search for peace” in the Middle East. Secretary of State John Kerry called him a “man of wisdom and vision”. Vice President Biden, meanwhile, announced he’d lead the American delegation to Saudi Arabia to mourn the king in person. The warm praise of Abdullah, 90, came as little surprise. Saudi Arabia and the United States have been close allies for decades. But the effusive reaction to the king’s death reveals an uncomfortable truth about Washington’s relationship to the kingdom. Despite Riyadh’s repulsive human rights record, unproductive role in regional security, and American advances in shale oil production, the United States needs Saudi Arabia more than ever. But first, it’s worth detailing why the American relationship with Saudi Arabia is so problematic. King Abdullah will be replaced by his half-brother, Salman, who has vowed to continue the “correct” policy of his predecessor. For the country’s women, religious minorities, and political dissidents, this is bad news. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy in which no opposition to the ruling family is tolerated. Those brave enough to call for religious pluralism are subject to lengthy prison sentences or state-sponsored violence. Two weeks ago, in a case that aroused international condemnation, the government lashed a Saudi blogger named Raif Badawi 50 times after he dared to defend atheism. Badawi is scheduled to be lashed a total of 950 more times and will serve a 10year prison sentence for this offense. Women, who comprise 42.5% of the kingdom’s population, are essentially treated like children. Saudi Arabia’s “guardianship” system requires them to seek male permission to travel, work, or leave the house; they also, famously, are not allowed to drive. King Abdullah did receive credit from International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde for his “discreet” improvement of women’s lives in the country—more women than men now attend college there, and many have received scholarships to study overseas. But the kingdom’s viciousness toward females extends even to the most privileged. Four of King Abdullah’s 15 daughters have lived under house arrest for 13 years after publicly opposing the kingdom’s policies toward women. Two have said they’re running low on food. Contrary to President Obama’s statement, Saudi Arabia’s role in brokering Middle Eastern peace has, at best, been unhelpful. King Abdullah bitterly opposed Washington’s support of pro-democracy protesters in Egypt and urged President Obama to use force to preserve Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship. Since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assumed the country’s leadership in 2013, Riyadh has helped finance his brutal suppression of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia has also resisted the rise of Shia movements in the region out of fear that Iran, their main rival, will gain influence. When Shia protesters threatened the Sunni dictatorship in neighboring Bahrain, Saudi Arabia dispatched its military to suppress the uprising. Riyadh’s support of Syrian rebels, too, has backfired: ISIL fighters have benefited from Saudi money and weapons. So why does the U.S. put up with Saudi Arabia? The simplest explanation, of course, is oil. The kingdom is the largest and most important producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the bloc that controls around 40% of the world’s oil. Because the United States was until recently the world’s top oil importer, an alliance with Saudi Arabia made geopolitical sense. The recent shale oil boom in the U.S. has led Washington to hope that before long, its alliance with Riyadh won’t be necessary. The U.S. now pumps more than 9 million barrels of oil per day, which almost matches the amount in Saudi Arabia. Observers project that in five years, the U.S. will get 80% of its oil from North and South America and will be mostly self-sufficient by 2035. The OPEC decision to not cut supply in response to falling oil prices signaled that the North American boom had fundamentally changed the commodity’s global logic. Saudi Arabia is well-positioned to survive a sustained drop in the price of oil, currently at $48.71 a barrel. Riyadh generally needs oil to trade at $80 a barrel in order to balance its budget. But with $750 billion stashed away in reserve, the kingdom faces little pressure to reduce supply and raise the price. In addition, Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC members Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have proved reserves of 460 billion barrels. The United States, by contrast, has proved reserves of just 10 billion—and the U.S. Energy Information Agency forecasts that American shale oil production will plateau in 2020. Given the precarious health of King Salman, who is 79 and alleged to be suffering from dementia, the United States government may well find itself offering condolences to Saudi Arabia on the death of its ruler before much longer. When the time comes, don’t expect the reaction to be any less effusive. --Courtesy: The Atlantic Anti-government protesters run as police arrive during their attempt to walk into Tahrir square in Cairo. CAIRO (Dispatches) -- At least 15 people were killed at pro-democracy protests in Egypt on Sunday, the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, security sources said. In the bloodiest day of protests since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president in June, security forces and plain-clothed police fired at protestors, witnesses said. The anniversary is a test of whether Islamic groups and liberal activists have the resolve to challenge a government that has stamped out dissent since then-army chief Sisi ousted elected president Muhammad Mursi in July 2013. Dozens of protesters were killed during last year’s anniversary. Again this year, security forces fanned out across the capital and other cities. The heaviest death tool was in the Cairo suburb of Matariya, a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold. Special forces fired pistols and rifles at protesters, a Reuters witness said. Eight people, including one policeman, were killed, according to the health ministry. People in Matariya chanted “down with military rule” and “a revolution all over again”. Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at security forces and fires raged Riot police backed by soldiers in armored vehicles sealed off roads, including those leading to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the 2011 revolt. In downtown Cairo, riot police with rifles and plain clothed men with pistols chased protesters through the streets. Six people were killed in separate protests in Alexandria, Egypt’s second biggest city, Giza governorate outside of Cairo and the Nile Delta province of Baheira, security sources said. A bomb wounded two policemen stationed outside a Cairo sports club, the sources said. Signs of discontent built up as the anniversary of the revolt against Mubarak approached, and a liberal (Continued on Page 7) FM: Better Saudi-Iran Ties ‘Necessary’ TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday his outreach to Saudi Arabia after the death of the kingdom’s ruler is “necessary”. Zarif was among the first foreign dignitaries to visit Saudi Arabia following the death Friday of King Abdullah. Zarif said he hopes his outreach to the Saudi government “prepares the ground for more cooperation in all areas in this very sensitive region based on good neighborliness and rationalism”. Zarif made the comments at a news conference here with Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic. He said Iran and Saudi Arabia need to find a joint solution to help tackle problems in the Middle East region. “There is no obstacle to cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two countries need to come up with a joint solution to regional problems,” he added. The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and Riyadh have no problem in mutual relations. Zarif also expressed his country’s preparedness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to find a joint solution to regional problems. “We hope that we will be able to establish stability and security in the region by the people in cooperation with neighboring states and without any foreign interference,” he added. The foreign minister travelled to Riyadh on Saturday for a rare visit to convoy Iran’s condolences. Zarif noted that during his threehour stay, he had held no political talks with Saudi officials, saying that Tehran has always expressed its readiness for enhanced bilateral dialog. The visit coincided with a state- ment from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressing hope for improved relations with the kingdom. Saudi officials greeted Zarif after he landed at a military airport in the capital Riyadh. In August last year Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. That was the first high-level Iranian visit to the kingdom since Rouhani became the Islamic Republic’s president a year earlier. (Continued on Page 7) nuclear dispute between Iran and the West. Media images of the top diplomats from old adversaries strolling together in a foreign land provoked an outcry among many Iranians. On Friday, prayer leaders heaped scorn on Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani for the “diplomatic slip-up” and newspapers said 21 members of parliament had signed a petition to call in the minister to provide an explanation. “Given the Great Satan’s endless demands and sabotage during the course of the nuclear negotiations, there is no conceivable ground for intimacy between the foreign ministers of Iran and America,” said the petition published in Fars News. “Your exhibitionist walk together with (Kerry) along Geneva sidewalks was certainly outside the norms of diplomacy, so why don’t you put a stop to such behavior?” The row over the diplomatic stroll is the latest in a series of summons since Zarif took charge of the nuclear file in late 2013. In February 2014 he caused an uproar with public comments about the Holocaust and was subsequently summoned to parliament. Tehran and Washington broke diplomatic ties after Iran’s 1979 Islamist Revolution, establishing tentative direct contact on specific cases such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and more recently as part of the nuclear talks between Iran and “P5+1” under way since after President Rouhani’s 2013 election. Speaking to reporters in Tehran last week, Zarif sought to justify the (Continued on Page 7) Majlis Summons Zarif Over Kerry Walk TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif is to appear before parliament following controversy over a promenade with his American counterpart during intense nuclear negotiations in Geneva. Zarif, who leads Tehran’s talks with “P5+1” - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - had a 15-minute walk down Geneva sidewalks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during discussions on Jan. 14 aimed at reaching a settlement of the 12-year
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