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Iraq Plans to Build Large Naval Military Base

Workers load concrete at the Faw port project site in Faw, southern province of Basra, August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
Workers load concrete at the Faw port project site in Faw, southern province of Basra, August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
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Iraq Plans to Build Large Naval Military Base

Workers load concrete at the Faw port project site in Faw, southern province of Basra, August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
Workers load concrete at the Faw port project site in Faw, southern province of Basra, August 28, 2017. (Reuters)

Iraq plans to build the largest naval base in the Arabian Gulf near the under-construction Al Faw Grand Port, which has been a huge obstacle for successive governments since 2003.

During a visit to the province of Basra last week, Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari announced plans for the establishment of the largest military naval base.

The ministry said in a statement that al-Shammari visited Basra accompanied by the Minister of Transport, Abdulla Luaibi and a number of military commanders.

“Iraq has decided to establish the biggest naval base in the Faw port, which will take several years to be built,” the Defense Minister announced.

The base would be responsible for securing Iraq's territorial waters and protecting its southern maritime port and will help develop the security and economy of Basra city.

“We will do whatever we can to finalize this project for the sake of Iraq’s economy,” al-Shammari said.

For his part, Luaibi said: “We are proud to announce the biggest naval base in Basra that would help Iraq develop its security and economy, as well as control its water resources.”

Defense Ministry spokesman, Tahsin al-Khafaji told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq needs such a military base to protect its ports and regional waters, revealing that the project will be complete in two years.

“After resuming construction at the Faw port, we found that an advanced naval base should be built near it to help protect the port,” he explained.

Khafaji said Iraq only boasts one naval base, located in Um Qasr, and it cannot address Iraq’s naval security needs, whether in its waters or regionally.

Asked whether some neighboring states would object to the construction of the new facility the spokesperson replied: “The project would affect no one, whether Kuwait or Iran, because it will be located inside Iraqi regional waters.”

Iraq does not boast a strong navy. Its vessels are currently limited to countering human trafficking and oil and weapons smuggling operations and protecting offshore oil rigs. Military reports have said that Iraq needs to boosts its navy to meet security demands.

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Lebanese President Sponsors Dialogue with Hezbollah on its Weapons, State Monopoly over Arms 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meet at the Baabda presidential palace on Monday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meet at the Baabda presidential palace on Monday. (Lebanese Presidency)
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Lebanese President Sponsors Dialogue with Hezbollah on its Weapons, State Monopoly over Arms 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meet at the Baabda presidential palace on Monday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meet at the Baabda presidential palace on Monday. (Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held a meeting at the Baabda presidential palace on Monday to pave the way for dialogue with Hezbollah leaders on the Iran-backed party’s possession of arms and need for the state to have monopoly over arms in the country.

Official sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that dialogue with Hezbollah aims to test the waters and the extent to which it is prepared to reach an agreement on its arsenal. Berri, Hezbollah’s sole remaining ally in Lebanon, supports intervening on behalf of the party – if necessary – to bridge any divides in the dialogue.

Any agreement will be followed with the drafting of a national security strategy for Lebanon, including a defense strategy, added the sources.

The sources said direct dialogue between Aoun and Hezbollah over the state monopoly over arms remains the better option than referring the issue to a dialogue table with other political parties seeing as agreements reached during past rounds of talks over the years were never implemented.

Deputy US special envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, who was in Lebanon last week, expressed to Aoun her understanding of his desire to hold direct dialogue with Hezbollah.

However, she stressed that time is not in Lebanon’s favor as it needs to resolve the issue which would pave the way for other solutions to its numerous crises.

Ortagus met during her visit with Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Berri.

Talks with the Lebanese leaders helped “soften the American stance” over Lebanon’s approach towards Hezbollah’s weapons possession because “resorting to force to disarm the party will jeopardize civil peace in the country,” said the sources.

Ortagus stated she was willing to travel to Beirut for a third time this year, possibly at the end of April or early May, to follow up on financial reforms and efforts to limit the possession of weapons to the state.

She has stressed the need for Lebanon to meet its obligations “as soon as possible” to avoid the dialogue becoming a waste of time and to prevent Lebanon from heading towards a collision course with the international community which has set as a priority the state achieving monopoly over arms.

Fulfilling that demand will restore confidence in Lebanon and speed up international efforts to help it resolve its crises.

The sources said Hezbollah is aware that limiting the possession of weapons won’t happen “at the press of a button.” However, stalling over the issue will not provide it with excuses to renege on its commitment to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 and declaration that it will stand by the state in reaching diplomatic solutions that would make Israel respect the ceasefire and withdraw from the South.

Hezbollah has effectively become isolated with no allies but Berri. The party cannot escape local, Arab and international pressure to disarm, especially after the weakening of the “Resistance Axis”, which it is a part of, and Iran’s waning influence in the region, political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Iran’s sole concern now is protecting its regime, they stressed.

So, Hezbollah has no choice but to join efforts to build a state and commit to conditions that have been imposed by the changes in the region and Lebanon, they went to say.

Hezbollah’s launch of its “support front” with Gaza and dragging Lebanon into a reckless confrontation with Israel has cost it dearly and it can no longer rise from under the rubble – in the political sense – without outside financial and economic support to help it rebuild what Israel destroyed, said the sources.

The question remains: will dialogue lead Hezbollah to disarm and agree to the state to have monopoly over weapons? Or will it use the dialogue to gain time as Iran seeks to improve its conditions as it prepares to hold negotiations with the US?

European parties had advised the party to reassess its calculations and reconsider its stances so that it places Lebanon first in its political choices so that it can reconcile with its political parties after years of tensions sparked by its monopoly of the decision of war and peace.