In a week where assassinations have continued within the top ranks of Iran’s regime, the minister of intelligence, the commander of the Bases paramilitary and the powerful security chief Ali Larijani included, but a weakened government seems to have had little bearing on Tehran’s retaliation across Israel and nine gulf states.Just one week ago, President Trump spoke of a war that was, “very complete, pretty much”, that now appears to have been premature, and over-confident. There’s no more talk of a Venezuelanstyle regime change that works for Washington. And Israel’s actual cooperation with Washington has come under scrutiny, after Israeli air strikes on the world’s largest natural gas field, at South Pars, which provides power for an estimated 70 to 80% of Iranians. President Trump’s immediate response was that he knew nothing about it. Insiders questioned the remark, critics claimed it spoke of the US getting sucked further into an Israeli agenda. Israel’s prime minister said that was nonsens.
It’s been a week that the human and economic cost of war in the gulf was felt more deeply around the worlld, plus a reignited conflict in Lebanon with a million people now displaced. The relentless creeping up of the cost of oil is now affecting more than 85 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa, made worse after the Iranian attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas field, one of the most important global energy hubs that supplies up to 20 per cent of the world’s liquid nitrogen gas. Combined with Iran’s effective blockade of the Straits of Hormuz - To which President Trump called on world powers to act and join the US, and send their warships to protect ships from drone attacks. The lack of any immediate response or readiness from NATO allies led to President Trump once again questioning the point of the organisation. “A foolish mistake” he said, adding that the US doesn’t need their help. Though his administration asked, not for the first time, where was the gratitude?
It’s been a week where Denmark’s public broadcaster DR published revelations that Danish troops rushed to Greenland back in January, carrying explosives preparing to blow up the airport’s runways, such was the fear from European Intelligence chiefs that President Trump would order a military takeover of the island. Danish soldiers are also said to have carried blood banks to treat those wounded in the event of a battle. Denmark’s government has declined to comment.
And it’s been a week that sporting history was controversially rewritten in the African Cup of Nations. Two months after Senegal took the trophy, beating Morocco in the final with one- nil, the Confederation of African Football overturned the result, awarding Morocco a three nil default win, even though the Atlas Lions didn’t score a goal. The move, unprecedented in international football history, was taken as a result of Senegal’s players walking off the pitch in protest at a controversial penalty. Cue a new protest in Senegal at the decision, and unexpected celebrations in Rabat.
Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Alessandro Xenos.
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Dalal Mawad Paris-based correspondent for Al Araby TV
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Laura KAYALI Defence Correspondent, Politico Europe
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Yaroslav TROFIMOV Chief Foreign-Affairs Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal
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Viktoria SERDULT Journalist for Hungary's leading political magazine HVG
English (US) · 