عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Tahrir al-Sham Arrests of Qaeda Leaders Cranks up Zawahiri- Julani Dispute

Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
TT
TT

Tahrir al-Sham Arrests of Qaeda Leaders Cranks up Zawahiri- Julani Dispute

Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat

Conflict ruptured between Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani, after Julani led a wide campaign of arrests against Qaeda big shots near Afghan-Pakistani borders.

Zawahiri said in an audiotape broadcast on Tuesday night that he did not authorize Julani’s break from Qaeda.

In the 35-minute audio message, Zawahiri categorically rejected the rebranding and said that Jabaht Al Nusra had betrayed the oath of allegiance (bayat) it owed as the branch of his organization in Syria. Al Nusra Front, according to him, did not consult the organization’s leadership when it made the decision to formally disengage from Qaeda.

Tahrir al-Sham group was formed in summer 2016 as a merger between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front), the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.

Zawahiri and Julani’s fight came into public spotlight after Jabhat Fateh al-Sham launched a large-scale arrest campaign on Monday.

Qaeda figures in Idlib, leaders and immigrants were among those taken away.

It is reported that the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham arrested the two most important figures on the wanted list, the former legitimate official in Al-Nusra Front Sami al-Aridi, and the former leader in Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Iyad al-Tubasi.

Zawahiri’s remarks showed grave discontent, as he said that Syrians had no right to ask militiamen to leave the country since the jihad in Syria was a matter pertaining to the global Muslim community.

His public statement signals that the schism reached a point of no return. Increasingly, the tension between the two rose.

On another hand, dozens of mortar bombs landed on the last major rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, a war monitor and a witness said on Wednesday, despite a 48-hour truce proposed by Russia to coincide with the start of peace talks in Geneva.

After a relatively calm morning, shelling picked up later in the day, accompanied by ground attempts to storm the besieged enclave, a witness in the Eastern Ghouta area told Reuters.

The Syrian army stepped up bombardment two weeks ago in an effort to recapture Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held pocket of densely populated agricultural land on the outskirts of the capital under siege since 2012.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran to Begin Enriching Uranium with Thousands of Advanced Centrifuges, UN Watchdog Says

Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Iran to Begin Enriching Uranium with Thousands of Advanced Centrifuges, UN Watchdog Says

Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)

Iran will begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges at its two main nuclear facilities at Fordo and Natanz, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Friday, further raising tensions over Tehran's program as it enriches at near weapons-grade levels.

The notice from the International Atomic Energy Agency only mentioned Iran enriching uranium with new centrifuges to 5% purity, far lower than the 60% it currently does — likely signaling that it still wants to negotiate with the West and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

However, it remains unclear how Trump will approach Iran once he enters office, particularly as it continues to threaten to attack Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and just after a ceasefire started in its campaign in Lebanon. Trump withdrew America from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and incidents across the wider Mideast.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment over the IAEA's report. Tehran had threatened to rapidly advance its program after the Board of Governors at the IAEA condemned Iran at a meeting in November for failing to cooperate fully with the agency.

In a statement, the IAEA outlined the plans Iran informed it of, which include feeding uranium into some 45 cascades of its advanced IR-2M, IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges.

Cascades are a group of centrifuges that spin uranium gas together to more quickly enrich the uranium. Each of these advanced classes of centrifuges enrich uranium faster than Iran’s baseline IR-1 centrifuges, which have been the workhorse of the country’s atomic program. The IAEA did not elaborate on how many machines would be in each cascade but Iran has put around 160 centrifuges into a single cascade in the past.

It's unclear if Iran has begun feeding the uranium yet into the centrifuges. Tehran so far has been vague about its plans. But starting the enrichment at 5% gives Tehran both leverage at negotiations with the West and another way to dial up the pressure if they don't like what they hear. Weapons-grade levels of enrichment are around 90%.

Since the collapse of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, it has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. US intelligence agencies and others assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program.

The US State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press it was “deeply concerned with Iran’s announcement that it is choosing the path of continued escalation as opposed to cooperation with the IAEA.”

"Iran’s continued production and accumulation of uranium enriched up to 60% has no credible civilian justification," it added.

Iran, as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, has pledged to allow the IAEA to visit its atomic sites to ensure its program is peaceful. Tehran also had agreed to additional oversight from the IAEA as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw sanctions lifted in exchange for drastically limiting its program.

However, for years Iran has curtailed inspectors’ access to sites while also not fully answering questions about other sites where nuclear material has been found in the past after the deal's collapse.

Iranian officials in recent months, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, had signaled a willingness to negotiate with the West. But Iran also has launched two attacks on Israel amid the war.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, said in a post on the social platform X that he met with EU diplomat Enrique Mora, criticizing Europe as being “self-centered" while having "irresponsible behavior.”

“With regard to the nuclear issue of Iran, Europe has failed to be a serious player due to lack of self-confidence and responsibility,” Gharibabadi wrote.

For his part, Mora described having a “frank discussion” with Gharibabadi and another Iranian diplomat. Those talks included “Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights,” he wrote on X.