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Iran’s Allies Seek to Obstruct Iraq's Grand Faw Port Project

Iraq's director general at the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, signs a contract with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction, to construct the Grand Faw port, in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2020. (Reuters)
Iraq's director general at the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, signs a contract with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction, to construct the Grand Faw port, in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Iran’s Allies Seek to Obstruct Iraq's Grand Faw Port Project

Iraq's director general at the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, signs a contract with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction, to construct the Grand Faw port, in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2020. (Reuters)
Iraq's director general at the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, signs a contract with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction, to construct the Grand Faw port, in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Iraq’s signing on Wednesday of a $2.625 billion deal with South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction to build the first phase at its planned Faw commodities port has revealed a dispute between two Iraqi camps over which country should oversee the construction.

Opinion is split between one camp that wants South Korea to take over the project, located in the southern Basra province, and another that wants China to be involved.

The first camp includes Prime Minister Mustsfa al-Kadhimi and political forces that support him, such as the Sairoon coalition of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the al-Hikma alliance led by Ammar al-Hakim. The second camp is comprised mainly of the Fateh alliance of the Popular Mobilization Forces and other parties that are known for their allegiance to Iran.

The positions from both camps over the project, expressed before and after the deal was inked, reveal just how deeply local forces are affected by the stances of regional and international powers. The dispute was not born yesterday, but has been brewing for weeks between the abovementioned camps.

The differing positions can be understood by expanding the overall political scene in Iraq and how it is affected by regional and international interests. Moreover, the South Korean company has been overseeing the al-Faw Grand Port for years and has never been met with such strong opposition as it is today from Iran’s allies.

Under the contract, signed in Baghdad by representatives of Iraq’s transportation ministry and the South Korean company, Daewoo E&C will handle construction work including building five berths to unload ships and a yard for containers.

Daweoo will also carry out dredging and drilling works to create an access navigation channel, Farhan al-Fartousi, Iraq’s director general at the General Company for Ports, told Reuters on the sidelines of a signing ceremony at the transportation ministry headquarters.

The first phase should allow the port to receive three million containers, and all the construction work should be finished in around four years, said Fartousi.

No sooner had the deal been announced that the Fateh alliance and other pro-Iran blocs kicked off efforts to collect signatures to file a request to debrief the minster of transportation.

The alliance claimed that the deal will lead to a “massive waste of public funds and confirms the suspicions of corruption.”

Secretary General of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali slammed the deal, saying the corrupt figures who agreed to it will “eventually be exposed.”

“The people know who you are and will hold you accountable for this major crime against their future,” he tweeted.

“For our part, we will work tirelessly to thwart this crime against Iraq and we hope the honorable people will support us,” he added.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s EDL Begins Cutting Power to Ministries, Municipalities and Public Institutions over Unpaid Dues

The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon’s EDL Begins Cutting Power to Ministries, Municipalities and Public Institutions over Unpaid Dues

The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon’s public power utility, "Electricite du Liban" (EDL), began on Monday implementing measures to disconnect electricity supply to public administrations, public institutions, and municipalities that have failed to settle their financial dues.

This unprecedented move, in terms of its sweeping scope, targets ministries, official bodies, water authorities, and municipalities. It comes amid a severe financial crisis confronting the state utility due to the accumulation of public sector debts.

An initial list obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat revealed the names of institutions and administrations covered by the measures. They include the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Directorate General of Urban Planning, Directorate General of Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Land Registry Directorates, and the Directorate General of Customs, in addition to subscriptions belonging to the Ministry of Telecommunications across various regions.

An informed source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "the decision to cut electricity to public institutions and administrations that fail to settle their dues does not aim to punish them or disrupt their work, but rather to enforce respect for the law and establish permanent financial regularity in paying electricity bills, thereby ensuring that EDL secures its rights and the continuity of its operations."

The source explained that "the primary objective is not the power disconnection itself, but rather to push public institutions to assume their financial responsibilities and settle their accumulated obligations on a regular basis, instead of continuing to pile up debts and resorting to temporary fixes whenever the crisis intensifies."

Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut successfully avoided a power disconnection after the Civil Aviation Authority reached an understanding with EDL. The agreement stipulates the payment of a portion of the accumulated dues and the rescheduling of the remaining amounts, alongside a commitment to settle incoming bills on a regular basis.

The accumulated dues owed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation reached around $22.8 million, according to figures circulated regarding public sector debts.

These measures come in light of EDL’s need to collect regular revenues to finance fuel purchases and operate power plants. Its dues from public administrations and institutions reached around a quarter of a billion dollars.

The problem of arrears dates back to years of irregular electricity bill payments and has worsened with the tariff increase and the lack of sufficient credit availability among some administrations. This presents a dual challenge related to settling past debts and ensuring the payment of new consumption.

Arab World

Lebanese, Syrian Talks in Damascus Tackle Border Security, Refugees

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
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Lebanese, Syrian Talks in Damascus Tackle Border Security, Refugees

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani received on Monday a high-level Lebanese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri in the Syrian capital, Damascus, for talks on outstanding issues between the neighboring countries.

Informed sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian side focused heavily on border control and joint security cooperation and coordination, while the Lebanese side focused primarily on the file of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said: "The meeting discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two brotherly nations and develop joint coordination across various fields, primarily security cooperation and border control. This is in addition to expanding the horizons of partnership in the sectors of education, higher education, social affairs, and labor, as well as following up on the work of joint technical committees to serve mutual interests."

The Lebanese delegation's visit to Damascus comes within the context of strengthening bilateral relations, serving as a continuation of previous talks and a follow-up on the work of the joint committees established between the two sides to address shared files.

This follows an agreement reached by both countries last July to establish a joint higher committee to serve as an institutional framework for coordinating the work of the relevant ministries, developing economic, investment, and trade cooperation, and reinforcing security understandings.

According to informed sources in Damascus, the management of the Syrian–Lebanese border, traffic at border crossings, and security coordination to combat smuggling and infiltration topped the agenda of the talks.

The file of Syrian refugees and the status of residents in Lebanon, particularly those who entered covertly, was brought forward. The discussions sought to address the refugee issue from multiple dimensions, including social, security, and legal aspects. The situation of Syrian students in Lebanese schools was also raised.

Arab World

Yemen Urges Int’l Pressure to Dry Sources of Houthi Funding, Weapons

Houthi supporters holding weapons during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen. (EPA file)
Houthi supporters holding weapons during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen. (EPA file)
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Yemen Urges Int’l Pressure to Dry Sources of Houthi Funding, Weapons

Houthi supporters holding weapons during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen. (EPA file)
Houthi supporters holding weapons during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen. (EPA file)

The Yemeni government is seeking to elevate its coordination with the United Kingdom beyond political and diplomatic support, pushing for more impactful measures to confront the terrorist Houthi militia.

These proposed actions include designating the group as a terrorist organization, choking off its financial and armament supply lines, and tightening restrictions on the dual-use technologies and components used to develop its military capabilities. This diplomatic push coincides with anticipated international efforts to mobilize economic and humanitarian assistance for Yemen.

These issues were at the forefront of a meeting between Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad Al-Alim and British Minister of State for the Middle East Stephen Doughty. The two officials reviewed the latest developments in Yemen and examined the threats posed by the Houthis to regional security and international shipping lanes, alongside the ongoing preparations to convene an international support conference for Yemen at the end of this month.

Al-Alimi underscored that the safeguarding of international maritime navigation cannot be achieved without neutralizing the core sources of the Houthi threat.

He called for bolstering the capacities of the Yemeni state to defend its sovereign territory and territorial waters, stressing that political and legal declarations must be paired with concrete, practical measures targeting the financing, weaponization, and smuggling networks that sustain the group’s military apparatus.

He urged the UK to play a more effective role in mobilizing international support to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization and ban the group in line with British law.

Continuing to address its threats without deterrent measures leaves the group's sources of strength outside the scope of targeting, he added.

Al-Alimi briefed the British minister on the scale of the Houthi escalation, pointing to the targeting of the civilian airports in Aden and Riyan, as well as the relentless attacks on the city of Taiz.

He highlighted the attacks endured by Taiz's residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities, markets, schools, and homes, in addition to the assaults on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and the ongoing threats posed to waterways and international shipping lanes.

He linked regional security directly to the restoration of Yemeni state institutions' ability to extend their authority, maintaining that supporting the government in this direction represents the sole sustainable guarantee for protecting maritime corridors and regional stability.

Al-Alimi praised the British positions supporting Yemen, particularly London's role as the penholder on the Yemeni file in the UN Security Council.

He also lauded the Saudi support provided through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen, including the response to humanitarian needs in Taiz and other governorates.