Macron Determined to Help Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron receives caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Dalati & Nohra)
French President Emmanuel Macron receives caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Dalati & Nohra)
TT
20

Macron Determined to Help Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron receives caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Dalati & Nohra)
French President Emmanuel Macron receives caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (Dalati & Nohra)

French President Emmanuel Macron has returned to taking a personal and direct interest in the Lebanese file, despite the many disappointments that his efforts have faced since 2020, following the August 2020 port explosion and the two successive visits he made to Lebanon, to try to put the country on the path to political and economic recovery.
During the extraordinary European summit that took place in Brussels earlier this week, Macron took advantage of a press conference to convey a set of messages and draw a “road map” for his new efforts towards Lebanon.
The talks that took place at the Elysée Palace on Friday, with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and with the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, followed by an expanded meeting attended by advisors from both sides, came to complete an understanding on the four files that the French president had raised from Brussels.
Those include the means to ensure security and stability in Lebanon, by finding a settlement to the ongoing “skirmish war” between Hezbollah and Israel in the South.
The second file deals with support for the Lebanese army. Macron said from Brussels that the European Council decided to provide enhanced assistance to the Lebanese army, which is intended to play a pivotal role, in cooperation with UNIFIL forces, in cooling the southern front and implementing the content of UNSC Resolution 1701 of 2006, which stipulates a zone free of weapons and militants between the Litani River and the international border.
The third file focuses on the means to support the Lebanese economy. The French president had previously presented an economic road map in 2020, and linked it to the reforms required by Lebanon to obtain international aid that was approved at the CEDRE conference in 2018. The pledges reached a record of $11 billion at the time, distributed between donations, loans and investments.
The last file revolved around the continued failure to elect a new president for the country. However, a source in the Elysee Palace said that the subject was “not the primary goal” of the discussions that took place on Friday, despite a French warning that the presidential vacuum exposes the country to dangers.

 

 

 



Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
TT
20

Iraqi Markets a Haven for Pedlars Escaping Iran's Economic Woes

An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP
An Iranian woman sells okra at the old market in Iraq's southern city of Basra. Hussein FALEH / AFP

Every Friday, Alawi crosses the border from Iran into Iraq to sell his produce in the markets of Basra, which serve as a haven for Iranians grappling with economic sanctions.
He is just one of many Iranian pedlars who endure the arduous journey into southern Iraq through the Chalamja border crossing, AFP said.
They bring essential goods such as chicken, eggs, cooking oil and household items to sell at low prices, hoping for a profit that would be unimaginable back home due to sharp currency depreciation and soaring inflation.
"The situation is difficult due to the embargo," Alawi said, referring to Western sanctions against Iran.
Asking to withhold his surname for fear of repercussions back home, the 36-year-old said he had not given up easily on his country, and had tried to sell his produce in a market there.
"There were no customers, and the products would spoil, so we had to throw them away and end up losing" money, he told AFP.
Instead, for the past seven years, he has been travelling to Iraq where he sells okra in summer and dates in winter, earning between $30 and $50 a day –- much more than he could make at home.
"When we exchange Iraqi money" for Iranian rials, "it's a lot," the father of two said.
"We can spend it in five days or even a week," he added.
'A lifeline'
After a brief period of relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program, US President Donald Trump reimposed the biting measures during his first term in 2018.
Ever since, the value of the Iranian rial has plunged, fueling high inflation and unemployment.
Prices soared last month by more than 32 percent compared to March the previous year, according to official figures.
Trump announced this week that his administration would restart negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, with talks to take place in Oman on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country's chief aim is for US sanctions to be lifted.
In the meantime, Basra's markets continue to bustle with Iranian vendors.
At the Friday market, bags of rice were stacked on plastic crates next to bottles of detergent.
While some vendors chatted with customers, others dozed off beside their shopping bags, rubbing off the weariness of a long journey.
Hayder al-Shakeri of the London-based Chatham House think-tank's Middle East and North Africa program said informal cross-border trade "has expanded significantly over the past decade as sanctions on Iran have increasingly impacted everyday life."
Basra's proximity to Iran's Khuzestan province, where many residents speak Arabic and share cultural values with Iraq, makes it a primary target for mostly working-class Iranian vendors, Shakeri said.
Among them are women and elderly men whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by inflation, he said, calling the cross-border trade "a vital lifeline".
"Earning in more stable currencies like the Iraqi dinar or even US dollars provides a financial buffer" against the devaluated rial, he added.
Better and cheaper
Iran wields considerable political influence in Iraq and is a major trade partner for the country, the second-largest importer of non-oil Iranian goods.
Trade between the two countries amounts to tens of billions of dollars.
Milad, 17, and his mother have been selling household essentials in Basra for the past two years. Fearing a worsening situation back home, they recently rented a small shop.
In Iran, "finding work is hard, and the currency is weak," said curly-haired Milad, who declined to give his last name, adding that his cousin has been looking for a job since he graduated.
Iraqi math professor Abu Ahmad, 55, strolls to the market every Friday, looking for fresh Iranian goods.
"Their geymar is better than ours," he said, referring to the cream Iraqis have with honey for breakfast.

It is also cheaper.

"They sell it for 12,000 dinars ($8)" compared to an Iraqi price of 16,000, he added.

Shakeri from Chatham House warned that local vendors "resent the competition", and Iraqi security forces sometimes remove Iranians, though they know they will eventually return.

Umm Mansur, a 47-year-old Iranian mother of five, has had a bitter experience since she joined other pedlars six months ago.

At the border, "they insult and mistreat us," she said.

Other pedlars have described similar experiences, saying they were held up for hours at the crossing.

Umm Mansur said she is willing to overlook the mistreatment to earn four times what she would at home.

"In Iran, there is no way to make a living," she said.