CENTCOM Nominee: There Are Risks with Iran's Sanctions Relief

Central Command (CENTCOM) candidate Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla (AP)
Central Command (CENTCOM) candidate Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla (AP)
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CENTCOM Nominee: There Are Risks with Iran's Sanctions Relief

Central Command (CENTCOM) candidate Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla (AP)
Central Command (CENTCOM) candidate Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla (AP)

US President Joe Biden's candidate for chief of Central Command (CENTCOM), Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla, warned Iran might use the money resulting from the sanctions waivers to support its proxies in the region.

Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there is a risk with sanctions relief that "Iran would use some of that money to support its proxies and terrorism in the region. And if they did, it could increase the risk to our forces in the region."

US officials stated that they likely have until the end of this month to salvage the nuclear agreement with Iran.

CNN quoted senior administration officials as saying that "this session is the critical one… We are genuinely in the very final stretch."

Kurilla's warnings reflected the military leaders' concern about Iran's growing influence in the region.

"Iran is the No. 1 destabilizing factor in the Middle East right now with their malign behavior," testified Kurilla, calling on the US to maintain strong relations with the countries of the world and enhance its capabilities to confront the Iranian threat.

The General stressed the importance of artificial intelligence in confronting Iran, adding that he would boost this strategy if approved for the position, noting that the US must continue to invest in technology, including artificial intelligence, to enhance its capabilities to respond to Iran's military capabilities.

Kurilla also referred to the Houthis' recent ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, stressing the importance of publicly accusing Iran of these attacks.

The US must expose Iran's involvement in such actions whenever possible, said Kurilla.

At the hearing, the army general said it's critical to help partners in the region improve cyber defenses that can protect them from Iran's "very capable offensive cyber capability."

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives members sat in the opposite section of the building listening to the President's Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, to discuss developments on the nuclear talks in Vienna.

Malley participated in the hearing via videoconferencing to answer questions about the administration's negotiations over the return to the 2015 nuclear deal amid concerns over the pace of Iran's nuclear advances and sanctions implementation.

The envoy provided his first classified briefing on Capitol Hill and it was evident that bipartisan legislators were running out of patience with Malley.

Representative Claudia Tenney, a committee member, led the pressure on Malley to testify

She said later that the session left her with more questions than answers.

"Before today, Rob Malley had yet to appear before the full Foreign Affairs Committee, either publicly or in private, to answer our questions and explain to the American people why sanctions are not being fully enforced on Iran," Tenney said.

"This briefing, unfortunately, left me with more questions than answers. While it was a start, it is still not enough."

Tenney also called for a full public hearing, urging greater transparency, adding that it "was a start, it is still not enough. Rob Malley works for the American people, and he needs to answer to them as well."

"That's why I'm continuing to press for a full, public hearing. On a matter as important to our national security as a nuclear Iran, maximum transparency is the only path forward."

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Senator Bob Menendez shared Tenney's concerns during a briefing at the Senate, which included the top Middle East official on the National Security Council, Brett McGurk.

Members pressured Malley to clarify the administration's efforts to return to the agreement in light of many questions raised by Menendez.

Earlier this week, Malley spoke with congressional staffers and left them feeling that the next few weeks will determine if the deal lasts or dies, two congressional sources told CNN.

"I have been cautiously optimistic about the Biden administration's initial efforts," said Menendez.

"However, a year later, I have yet to hear any parameters of 'longer' or 'stronger' terms or whether that is even a feasible prospect."

Menendez said it's still "possible" for the US to agree with Iran, but "it's increasingly difficult, cause the window is closing, closing rapidly."

In turn, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said after leaving the closed session that it was a "sobering and shocking briefing," saying that Iran is "weeks away from a nuclear weapon, once they decide to get it, that time is getting smaller, not bigger."



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."