Ahmed Majdalani: Palestinian-Israeli File Not a Priority for US Administration

A Palestinian boy stands next to his father at their house, which was destroyed by Israeli air strikes during recent Israel-Gaza fighting, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
A Palestinian boy stands next to his father at their house, which was destroyed by Israeli air strikes during recent Israel-Gaza fighting, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ahmed Majdalani: Palestinian-Israeli File Not a Priority for US Administration

A Palestinian boy stands next to his father at their house, which was destroyed by Israeli air strikes during recent Israel-Gaza fighting, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
A Palestinian boy stands next to his father at their house, which was destroyed by Israeli air strikes during recent Israel-Gaza fighting, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Member of the PLO Executive Committee Ahmed Majdalani criticized on Tuesday the American administration, saying it was not serious about resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

“The US administration has neither the desire nor the will to pressure the government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, to implement the agreements reached at Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh,” he said.

Political and security officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA), Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the United States met at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh in March and again in Aqaba, Jordan, in February to discuss the tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.

“We had hoped that the meetings would make the US and mediating parties to assume their responsibility to force Israel to cease its unilateral measures,” he told the Arab World News Agency.

Majdalani added: “This was the right time for Washington to put pressure on Netanyahu in light of his disagreement with the US administration over common issues. However, the US administration has not done so.”

The Palestinian official explained that currently, Washington has other priorities than the Middle East. He said the US administration is busy confronting China and Russia to preserve the unipolar world it leads. “The US does not see the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a threat to its interests and national security,” Majdalani remarked.

The official said Israel made a number of commitments at the Egypt and Jordan meetings, but it continues to shirk its obligations, even the economic ones.

At the Aqaba meeting, Israel committed to transfer millions of dollars in tax revenues it has withheld from the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.

However, Majdalani said Israeli authorities failed to pay the amount accumulated in the past 10 years, estimated at 800 million shekels.

He stressed that the PA is serious about reviewing its relationship with Israel as an occupying power. “In wake of President (Palestinian Mahmoud) Abbas' recent speech at the United Nations, we are working on developing some practical steps to start a new plan of action,” Majdalani said.



US Imposes Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah

Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
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US Imposes Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah

Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)

The US imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.

A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said.

"Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The US has imposed waves of sanctions on Iran's oil exports over its nuclear program and funding of militant groups across the Middle East.

Reuters reported late last year that a fuel-oil smuggling network that generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since 2022.

Thursday's sanctions came after the US carried out strikes on June 22 on three Iranian nuclear sites including its most deeply buried enrichment plant, Fordow. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the strikes had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, despite a far more cautious initial assessment that had leaked to the public.

The US and Iran were expected to hold talks about its nuclear program next week in Oslo, Axios reported.

Said’s companies and vessels blend Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then sold to Western buyers via Iraq or the United Arab Emirates as purely Iraqi oil using forged documentation to avoid sanctions, Treasury said.

Said controls UAE-based company VS Tankers though he avoids formal association with it, Treasury said. Formerly known as Al-Iraqia Shipping Services & Oil Trading (AISSOT), VS Tankers has smuggled oil for the benefit of the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organization, it said.

The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.

VS Tankers denied Treasury's assertions and said it will "pursue all legal remedies as necessary." Iran's mission in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US also sanctioned several vessels that are accused of engaging in the covert delivery of Iranian oil, intensifying pressure on Iran’s "shadow fleet," it said.

The Treasury Department also issued sanctions against several senior officials and one entity associated with the Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

The officials, the department said, conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited, but obscured, Hezbollah.