You are here: Home / Archives for Foreign Policy

U.N. Assembly Adopts Resolution Condemning Syria

February 18, 2012 by ·

The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly ratcheted up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday by overwhelmingly approving a resolution that endorses an Arab League plan calling for him to step aside.

The resolution, similar to one Russia and China vetoed in the Security Council on February 4, received 137 votes in favor, 12 against and 17 abstentions, though three countries said their votes failed to register on the electronic board.

Russia and China were among those opposing the resolution, which was drafted by Saudi Arabia and submitted by Egypt on behalf of Arab states. Unlike in the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly, but its decisions lack the legal force of council resolutions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government, People ·

Iran Announces Nuclear Advances But Offers New Talks

February 17, 2012 by ·

Iran proclaimed advances in nuclear know-how, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium much faster, a move that may heighten its confrontation with the West over suspicions it is seeking the means to make atomic bombs.

Tehran’s determination to pursue a nuclear program showed no sign of wavering despite Western sanctions that are inflicting increasing damage on its oil-based economy.

“The era of bullying nations has passed. The arrogant powers cannot monopolize nuclear technology. They tried to prevent us by issuing sanctions and resolutions but failed,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a television broadcast on Wednesday. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Diplomatic Ties, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Facility ·

Iran Warns 6 Countries in Europe It Will Cut Off Oil

February 16, 2012 by ·

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said the threat was conveyed to the ambassadors of Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal in separate meetings at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. Officials said in an earlier report by Press TV, Iran’s state-financed satellite broadcaster, that Iran had already cut supplies to the six countries was inaccurate — but not before word of the Press TV report sent a brief shudder through the global oil market, sending prices up slightly.

“Iran warns Europe it will find other customers for its oil,” the Islamic Republic News Agency said. “European people should know that if Iran changes destinations of the oil it gives to them, the responsibility will rest with the European governments themselves.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government, Industry ·

UN Says Syria Encouraged By Russia, China Veto

February 14, 2012 by ·

The UN human rights chief accused Syrian President Bashar Al Assad of launching an ‘indiscriminate attack’ on civilians to end pro-democracy protests and said he had been emboldened by the failure of the Security Council to condemn him.

Hours after the speech by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, Syrian troops resumed their bombardment of districts in the central city of Homs, making Tuesday the 10th day of shelling and sniper fire on the city.

Pillay told the 193-nation UN General Assembly the Feb. 4 veto by Russia and China of a draft Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government and endorsing an Arab League plan for Assad to step aside had encouraged Damascus to intensify its attacks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government, Humanities ·

China, Russia Unjustified In Vetoing U.N. Resolution On Syria: Expert

February 13, 2012 by ·

A decision by China and Russia to block a United Nations resolution condemning Syria’s violent crushing of pro-democracy demonstrators is not justified and only promises greater catastrophe for the Arab country, according a Middle East expert.

Bill W. Wang, a former president of CNA and Middle East correspondent, said China and Russia, two veto-wielding members in the U.N. Security Council, voted Feb. 4 against the draft resolution aimed at ending the Syrian uprising, accusing council members backing the proposal of destroying the chance to solve the crisis through political negotiations, putting lopsided blame on President Bashar al-Assad’s administration, and forcing a change of government. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government, Politics ·

Russia, China Complicit In Carnage Inflicted On Syrians

February 12, 2012 by ·

By their double veto at the UN, they have chosen to back the Al Assad regime that is already wet spaghetti

The adjectives (or perhaps they were epithets) used to describe it were vociferous and blunt, rarely used in diplomatic parlance: the Syrian regime was identified as barbaric, criminal, tyrannical, savage, murderous and the rest of it, all intended to point to a whole gamut of villany committed by a government that, for the last 11 months, has slaughtered, incarcerated and tortured its own people.

Yet irrespective of the emotive language resorted to by various diplomats at the UN, it was clear from the outset that the resolution that came up for a vote at the Security Council last week, based on an Arab League plan intended to halt the bloodbath in Syria, would be still-born, blocked as had been anticipated by the double veto from Russia and China. The act soon had grotesque consequences. Bashar Al Assad’s regime took the veto as a green light to crush the protesters. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government, People, Politics ·

US Closes Embassy In Syria Because Of Insecurity

February 7, 2012 by ·

The Obama administration closed the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday and pulled all American diplomats out of violence-wracked Syria as the U.S. stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad to leave power.

Robert Ford, the American ambassador, and 17 other U.S. officials left Syria and were expected to travel back to the United States. Ford informed Syrian authorities of the decision to leave earlier in the day, State Department officials said. Two diplomats left by air and the others went overland to Jordan.

Their departure comes two weeks after the State Department warned that it would close the embassy unless Assad’s government better protected the mission, citing safety concerns about embassy personnel and a recent series of car bombs. And it coincides with a U.S. effort to build an international coalition in support of Syria’s opposition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, Government ·