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Zarif Assuring Meqdad: Iran Supports Astana Process

Zarif me with Al-Mekdad in Tehran on Monday (IRNA)
Zarif me with Al-Mekdad in Tehran on Monday (IRNA)
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Zarif Assuring Meqdad: Iran Supports Astana Process

Zarif me with Al-Mekdad in Tehran on Monday (IRNA)
Zarif me with Al-Mekdad in Tehran on Monday (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif expressed his support for the "Astana Process" during a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Faisal al-Meqdad in Tehran Monday.

The Iranian minister voiced his satisfaction with the continuation of the political process in Syria in the Astana formula and described the recent refugee conference held in Damascus last month as positive.

According to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, Zarif and Meqdad "reviewed during the meeting various bilateral, regional and international issues, in addition to the two countries' cooperation in combating terrorism."

They also affirmed their "desire to expand and strengthen the growing and strategic ties, as well as the means to develop bilateral economic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus.”

For his part, Zarif began his speech at the meeting by commemorating the memory of former Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. He also congratulated his successor, Meqdad, affirming his "readiness for comprehensive cooperation with his new Syrian counterpart."

IRNA said that while referring to regional developments during the recent period, the Iranian foreign minister stressed the need to remain vigilant and additionally share visions between Iran, Syria, and other countries. For his part, Meqdad offered condolences "in the name of President Bashar Assad to the Iranian government and people for the killing of the scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, and the leader of (Quds Force) Qassem Soleimani." The Syrian FM praised Tehran's sustainable and supportive stances for Syria in the field of combating terrorism and extremism.

IRNA added that while affirming his country's will to continue fighting terrorism, Meqdad noted the importance of joint cooperation between Tehran and Damascus in this regard, stressing that this constitutes an essential step towards the return of peace and stability to Syria.

Meqdad’s visit to Tehran is his first foreign trip since he was appointed foreign minister last month after the death of Muallem.

Last month, Zarif spoke by phone with Mekdad to congratulate him on his appointment as the foreign minister of Syria.

During the phone call, the top Iranian diplomat underlined the continuation of strategic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus.

Meqdad started a career at the Syrian Foreign Ministry in 1994, and has been deputy foreign minister since 2006.

On Nov. 28, the Syrian FM accused Israel and “those who supported it” of being behind the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, an act he said would only fuel more tensions in the region.

Meqdad was quoted by state media as telling the Iranian envoy in Damascus that Syria was confident Iran would confront what he called the “terrorist act” behind the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the country’s top nuclear scientist.

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UN Warns US Aid Cuts Threaten Millions of Afghans with Famine

(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
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UN Warns US Aid Cuts Threaten Millions of Afghans with Famine

(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)

Fresh US cuts to food assistance risk worsening already widespread hunger in Afghanistan, according to the World Food Program, which warned it can support just half the people in need -- and only with half rations.
In an interview with AFP, WFP's acting country director Mutinta Chimuka urged donors to step up to support Afghanistan, which faces the world's second-largest humanitarian crisis, AFP said.

A third of the population of around 45 million people needs food assistance, with 3.1 million people on the brink of famine, the UN says.

"With what resources we have now barely eight million people will get assistance across the year and that's only if we get everything else that we are expecting from other donors," Chimuka said.

The agency already has been "giving a half ration to stretch the resources that we have", she added.

In the coming months, WFP usually would be assisting two million people "to prevent famine, so that's already a huge number that we're really worried about", Chimuka said.

Already grappling with a 40 percent drop in funding for this year globally, and seeing a decline in funding for Afghanistan in recent years, WFP has had to split the standard ration -- designed to meet the daily minimum recommended 2,100 kilocalories per person.

"It's a basic package, but it's really life-saving," said Chimuka. "And we should, as a global community, be able to provide that."
WFP, like other aid agencies, has been caught in the crosshairs of funding cuts by US President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order freezing all foreign aid for three months shortly after his inauguration in January.

Emergency food aid was meant to be exempt, but this week WFP said the United States had announced it was cutting emergency food aid for 14 countries, including Afghanistan, amounting to "a death sentence for millions of people" if implemented.

Washington quickly backtracked on the cuts for six countries, but Afghanistan -- run by Taliban authorities who fought US-led troops for decades -- was not one of them.

If additional funding doesn't come through, "Then there's the possibility that we may have to go to communities and tell them we're not able to support them. And how do they survive?"

She highlighted the high levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, one of the world's poorest where thousands of Afghans are currently being repatriated from Pakistan, many without most of their belongings or homes to go to.

'Vicious cycle'
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, this week urged international donors to keep supporting Afghanistan, saying 22.9 million needed assistance this year.

"If we want to help the Afghan people escape the vicious cycle of poverty and suffering, we must continue to have the means to address urgent needs while simultaneously laying the groundwork for long-term resilience and stability," said Indrika Ratwatte, the UN's resident and humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, in a statement.

The statement warned that lack of international aid in Afghanistan could lead to increased migration and strain on the broader region.

The call for funding comes as other countries including Germany and Britain have also made large cuts to overseas aid.

But the Trump administration cut has been the deepest. The United States was traditionally the world's largest donor, with the biggest portion in Afghanistan -- $280 million -- going to WFP last fiscal year, according to US State Department figures.

But other UN agencies, as well as local and international NGOs are being squeezed or having to shut down completely, straining the network of organisations providing aid in Afghanistan.

The Trump administration also ended two programs -- one in Afghanistan -- with the UN Population Fund, an agency dedicated to promoting sexual and reproductive health, the agency said Monday.

And other organisations working on agriculture -- on which some 80 percent of Afghans depend to survive -- and malnutrition are impacted.

"We all need to work together," said Chimuka. "And if all of us are cut at the knees... it doesn't work."