DPG West Asia Review
Date: May 25, 2020
The COVID-19 induced economic crisis is showing little signs of abating in West Asia. The United Nations has warned that Health System of Yemen has already collapsed due to the community spread of COVID-19. Similarly the Iraqi parliament also fears collapse of the country’s health system within the next 10 days. Meanwhile according to a survey conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 70 per cent of the companies operating in Dubai are likely to suspend their activities within next six months owing to the lack of demand as a result of Covid-19 spread.
The deep discount on crude oil has resulted in Saudi Arabia piping Iraq as the top oil supplier to India. In Apr 2020, India imported 4.63 million barrels of oil per day, an increase of five percent from March. On the other hand despite the United States and Iran exchanging heated words on the latter’s fuel shipments to Venezuela, the first of five Iranian tankers reached Venezuela without any incident. Much needed fuel supply is expected to ease the South American nation’s fuel crunch.
As a part of President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, the United States on May 20, 2020 sanctioned Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli for human rights abuses.Iraqi intelligence agency on May 20, 2020 announced the capture of Abdul Nasser Qardash, a top ISIS commander and a possible successor of deceased leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Iraqi sources have not revealed where and when this capture took place. Meanwhile the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah has called for Jihadi operations inside Saudi Arabia. The remarks of an official from Kataib Hezbollah stressed on the importance of such attacks against the Saudis with a view to remove the Al-Saud family from power.
The cyber conflict between Israel and Iran escalated dramatically in the past few weeks. As a reaction to the Iranian attack on critical water infrastructure in April, Israel carried out a sophisticated cyber-attack on Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port causing widespread chaos and confusion.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has stated that the EU will use its diplomatic clout to prevent unilateral annexation of the parts of West Bank by the Israeli government. The process of annexing West Bank could begin as early as July 2020. Besides the EU, Saudi Arabia has also rejected such plans.
In a much needed relief to expats, Kuwaiti government has granted three months visa extension from June 01, 2020 to August 31, 2020.Syria has imposed a temporary travel ban on President Bashar al-Assad’s tycoon cousin Rami Makhlouf. The Syrian government says company owned by Makhlouf, Syriatel owes 134 billion Syrian pounds, around $77 million to the government.
Links to major developments in West Asia of strategic relevance to India, compiled from open source media, can be found below.
The deep discount on crude oil has resulted in Saudi Arabia piping Iraq as the top oil supplier to India. In Apr 2020, India imported 4.63 million barrels of oil per day, an increase of five percent from March. On the other hand despite the United States and Iran exchanging heated words on the latter’s fuel shipments to Venezuela, the first of five Iranian tankers reached Venezuela without any incident. Much needed fuel supply is expected to ease the South American nation’s fuel crunch.
As a part of President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, the United States on May 20, 2020 sanctioned Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli for human rights abuses.Iraqi intelligence agency on May 20, 2020 announced the capture of Abdul Nasser Qardash, a top ISIS commander and a possible successor of deceased leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Iraqi sources have not revealed where and when this capture took place. Meanwhile the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah has called for Jihadi operations inside Saudi Arabia. The remarks of an official from Kataib Hezbollah stressed on the importance of such attacks against the Saudis with a view to remove the Al-Saud family from power.
The cyber conflict between Israel and Iran escalated dramatically in the past few weeks. As a reaction to the Iranian attack on critical water infrastructure in April, Israel carried out a sophisticated cyber-attack on Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port causing widespread chaos and confusion.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has stated that the EU will use its diplomatic clout to prevent unilateral annexation of the parts of West Bank by the Israeli government. The process of annexing West Bank could begin as early as July 2020. Besides the EU, Saudi Arabia has also rejected such plans.
In a much needed relief to expats, Kuwaiti government has granted three months visa extension from June 01, 2020 to August 31, 2020.Syria has imposed a temporary travel ban on President Bashar al-Assad’s tycoon cousin Rami Makhlouf. The Syrian government says company owned by Makhlouf, Syriatel owes 134 billion Syrian pounds, around $77 million to the government.
Links to major developments in West Asia of strategic relevance to India, compiled from open source media, can be found below.
