Here’s an overview of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Middle East this week.
Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore diplomatic relations, the Lebanese currency resurfaces, and boat tragedies in the Mediterranean. Here is your overview of our coverage, written by Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Middle East and North Africa Editor of Al Jazeera Digital.
Things can change very quickly in the Middle East. Just days before Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to patch things up and restore diplomatic ties, there was talk that it was actually Israel moving closer to Riyadh. In fact, much of the friendly relations, shall we say, between Israel and various Gulf states can be linked to their mutually shared animosity toward Iran. And yet, seven years after Iran and Saudi Arabia cut ties, they sat here in the same room announcing a deal to reopen the embassies in their respective capitals within two months.
The repercussions of this arrangement are, of course, not just in Iran and Saudi Arabia, but in an entire region torn by fault lines previously created by the rivalry between Tehran and Riyadh. Will their diplomatic cooperation pave the way for the rehabilitation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the eyes of other Arab leaders? Will Lebanon, dominated by Hezbollah, now receive more Saudi investment? Will Saudi Arabia feel safe enough to withdraw from the war in Yemen, where Iran has supported rebels? And will Iran’s own regional isolation, if not completely end, at least significantly diminish?
(READ: Has Yemen’s government been sidelined after the Saudi-Iran deal?)
The other interesting thing to note is where the announcement was made, which is China. Is this a further sign of a “changing world order,” as one analyst put it? China’s role in the Middle East and North Africa is often seen as a business one, but with this deal it seems China is trying to position itself as an alternative arbiter to the United States. Washington itself has welcomed the deal for the time being, but behind closed doors questions will be asked about what it means for US influence in a still very important region like the Middle East.
Lebanon’s increasingly worthless currency
In 2019, you could get about 1,500 Lebanese pounds for one US dollar. Then an economic crisis hit, one that has not gone away. In January of this year, it cost you 60,000 Lebanese pounds for the one dollar on something called the parallel market, an unofficial exchange tolerated by the authorities. But this week it hit 100,000. Yet the wages of millions of Lebanese have barely risen. Instead, people have been pushed into poverty and the country has plunged even deeper into crisis.
Last year, the Lebanese government turned to the IMF for a bailout and an agreement was signed that would give the country $3 billion in loans, as long as it implements a series of reforms. The only problem: Lebanon is virtually leaderless, has no president and only a transitional government with limited powers. The governor of the central bank has himself been accused of corruption.
So, rather than wait for a solution from a seemingly non-existent government, many companies have been pricing their goods and services in dollars, a practice the Commerce Secretary has encouraged. Whatever happens, it is not sustainable.
(READ: 12 years after the start of the war in Syria)
Deaths in the Mediterranean
There have been several tragedies in the Mediterranean over the past week, when boats carrying people trying to reach Europe from Africa and Asia capsized, leaving at least 19 people drowned and at least 30 more missing. These cases rarely get the attention they deserve, whether it’s because they are unfortunately all too common, or because of the increasingly determined attitude towards refugees in Europe. The thing is, the problem isn’t going away, so…
And now for something else
Fans in the stands cheer. Exciting competition in sports hall. This is Libya’s robotics championship, where schoolchildren compete in teams to design their own robots and then have them compete against each other. One of the organizers of the event said that the young people should “work towards integration, unity and peace”. In a country like Libya, this is an important message to spread, given all the suffering caused by the recurrent conflict since the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Short
Earthquake survivors rebuild shattered lives in Istanbul | Controversial Judiciary Bill Passes First Vote in Israeli Parliament | Belarusian President Visits Iran, Signs Cooperation Agreement | Palestinians declared ‘dead’ turn out to be alive | UN researchers point to slow pace of aid for earthquake victims in Syria | Human Rights Watch: Egyptian dissidents refuse identity documents | Oil giant Saudi Aramco records historic profit of $161 billion in 2022 | Iranian court upholds death sentence for Iranian-Swedish dissident | Israel carries out airstrikes in Syria | Israeli troops kill three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank | Bahrain revokes parliamentary conference visas for human rights activists | Turkey to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 | American imprisoned in Iran calls on President Biden to secure his release | Massive crowds protest Israeli judicial changes for 10th straight week | Saddam Hussein’s body ‘disposed’ near former prime minister’s home | Israeli army says bomber suspected of coming from Lebanon killed | UN believes tons of uranium are missing from sites in Libya |
Quote of the week
“The hearts of all Iraqi mothers are broken because of their missing sons. With all the time that has passed since 2003, we should have found a solution. Why are people still disappearing? | Nadia Jasim, whose son, a combat medic, was at Camp Speicher in the Iraqi city of Tikrit when ISIL attacked in 2014. history. But the name of Jasim’s son was never added to the list of victims and his body was never found. Iraq has an organization dedicated to finding the thousands of missing, both before and after the 2003 Iraq War. But with bodies regularly turning up in mass graves, it’s a tough task.
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