Iran says it backs Lebanon in ceasefire talks, seeks end to ‘problems’
Iran will support Lebanon in any decision it takes to secure a ceasefire with Israel, a senior Iranian government official has said.
Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, arrived in Lebanon on Friday and has met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri.
On Thursday, the US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, presented a draft ceasefire proposal to Berri, who is endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate, two senior Lebanese political sources told the Reuters news agency.
When asked by reporters if he had come to Lebanon to undermine Washington’s ceasefire efforts, Larijani said: “We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems.”
“We support in all circumstances the Lebanese government. Those who are disrupting are [Prime Minister] Netanyahu and his people,” he added.
End game for Israel is to have ‘permission to do whatever it wants’
Discussing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg says the “end game” for Israel is that it wants “permission to basically do whatever it wants”.
“It wants an official note written by the United Nations allowing it to exercise exclusive discretion. That is the end game,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The end game is not a stable Lebanese government or a stable Lebanese state. It’s providing Israeli citizens – and this for the political purposes of the current government – with the sense that only Israel ‘shapes its destiny’. That’s the end game.”
Malaysia PM says no recognition of Israel, support for Palestinians ‘matter of justice’
Malaysia does not recognise the state of Israel and supports the Palestinian people, the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated.
Anwar made the comments during a news conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru on Friday, according to the Malaysian Reserve, where he rejected any suggestion his government had plans to change its diplomatic distance towards Israel.
In a follow-up interview with US media, Anwar doubled down on his position saying that Malaysia had to maintain its position regarding Israel as “a matter of justice”.
“In the context of the international system, some say ‘de facto’ and some say ‘de jure’. Israel exists as a country in the context of membership in the United Nations (UN), but we still reject official recognition of the country,” he said.
Malaysia was the only country to raise questions about Israel’s escalating violence against Palestine at the APEC meeting, Anwar added.
“How can we talk about the economy and free trade if the rights of a nation are denied? This is a matter of justice. Malaysia will continue to voice support for the Palestinian people wherever it is needed,” he said.
New Trump administration ‘more pro-Israel than most Israelis’: Analysts
A re-elected Donald Trump will move his administration even closer to Israel and would feel no pressure to pretend there is a difference between the interests of the two countries, analysts say.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, Asher Fredman, director of the Israeli think tank the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, said the incoming Trump administration looked “more pro-Israel than most Israelis”.
“There is really tremendous paradigm-shifting potential in a number of realms, such as advancing regional cooperation and putting maximum pressure on Iran,” Fredman said.
Elie Pieprz, director of international relations at the Israel Defense and Security Forum – an avowedly Zionist organisation, said Biden had a difficult relationship with Israel while Trump will likely seek to ease any friction.
Much like his domestic slogan, Pieprz said, Trump wants to “make the US-Israel relationship great again”.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former US State Department adviser, said Trump has an “opportunistic, transactional and ad hoc” approach to international affairs and is unlikely to be able to stop Israel’s war on Gaza.
“He cannot end the war in Gaza and won’t pressure Netanyahu to do so,” Miller told AFP.
Trump pick for defense has long demonized Islam and worshipped Israel: Marwan Bishara