Middle East: Iran is on the brink of a new popular uprising - by Huda al-Husseini

New sanctions against Iran can be viewed as a warning to Tehran to halt the activities of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force. Trump has set a deadline that ends in the first two weeks of May to amend the nuclear deal with Iran. The political arena is troubled as France, Britain and Germany began to move backward in the last few weeks to please Trump in an attempt to convince him not to withdraw from the agreement.

Meanwhile, these countries proposed new sanctions to restrain Iran’s activity in terms of its ballistic missiles and its regional activity in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Iran seems to be “working as usual” as it’s using the Houthis in Yemen to launch missiles that target Riyadh upon Soleimani’s orders. However, Iran cannot continue to pursue this policy of “working as usual” for a long time because the political campaign launched by some European countries is tantamount to issuing a warning to Tehran to decrease Soleimani’s military activity which may reignite the problems that Iran suffered from before the nuclear deal was sealed – or perhaps cause even worse problems.

Regardless of what Washington decides to do, Iran has to show relative self-control and at least act responsibly. However, internally, it is probably difficult to maintain a unified front, as all old contentions will resurface. Even if the recent wave of protests seemed to have apparently ebbed, there is an ongoing low-level public unrest against the situation in Iran. Although the regime thinks the containment of the recent protests as being a success, it’s only a matter of time before fresh wave of strong protests erupt again. The US’ withdrawal from the deal or imposing additional sanctions may motivate a new popular uprising.

Ever since the nuclear deal was signed, Iran succeeded in attracting more than $15 billion in foreign investment. However this is not enough for the people who are in dire need of economic relief, especially when a large part of these investments need to be activated. While President Hassan Rouhani is aware of the need to translate economic growth into improving the quality of the Iranian people’s lives, Soleimani has completely different plans as he does not intend to allow Iran’s citizens to enjoy the fruits of the nuclear deal. On the contrary, Soleimani is investing massive funds which Iran secured after signing the deal for his adventures in other countries resulting in domestic and foreign criticism.

 For the complete report first published in Arabic click here : Iran is on the brink of a new popular uprising - Al Arabiya English

Terrorism: France to stop citizens joining Syria war - EU member state Governments and EU parliament must also act

ISIS in Syria and Iraq

Aljazeera reported that France has unveiled steps to stop its citizens from joining the Syrian civil war and prevent young French Muslims from posing a threat to their home country.

France, which has been a staunch opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, estimates the number of its nationals directly involved in the Syrian conflict is about 500, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a radio interview.

President Francois Hollande has prioritized the crackdown on groups and individuals planning domestic attacks since a Toulouse-based al Qaeda-inspired gunman, Mohamed Merah, shot dead seven people in March 2012.

But with the Syrian conflict entering its fourth year, the government has increasingly come under fire for failing to stop its nationals - some of whom are as young as 15 - from heading to Syria.

"France will take all measures to dissuade, prevent and punish those who are tempted to fight where they have no reason to be," Hollande told reporters on Tuesday.

The Dutch Government also reported recently that two Dutch Muslim nationals, who are part of a group of at least 150 other Dutch citizens, who have joined radical Muslim groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda and others  in Syria,  blew themselves up in suicide attacks in Syria and Iraq.

As ISIS’s name suggests, the interests of the group and its current leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi go beyond Syria. Its members believe that the world's Muslims should live under one Islamic state ruled by sharia law. 

War and instability in Syria and Iraq have given it an opportunity to attempt to build a proto-state in the adjacent Sunni-majority areas of these two countries, before spreading further. 

Its 7,000 or so fighters in Syria have expended as much energy on consolidating the group’s rule in towns and cities behind rebel lines as fighting the regime. ISIS is willing to use ruthless tactics to assert its authority. 

Once in control of an area it has told women to cover up and kidnapped journalists, aid workers and Syrian activists. Beheadings and suicide bombings are now a regular feature of ISIS There are also many other EU Muslim citizen, including Germany and Britain, who have voluntarily joined radical Muslim groups like ISIS in  the Syrian conflict.

Many people fear that "rebel fighters" returning home to Europe will have become so radicalized that they could become a danger to their local societies.

There seems to be an urgent need for EU member state Governments and the EU Parliament to legislate laws which forbid and punish anyEuropean citizen for joining external conflicts or radical fighting Units.

EU-Digest