27 Nov 14. Statement by the Secretary General on the ratification by the Afghan Parliament of security agreements with NATO and the United States. I welcome the ratification, by an overwhelming majority in the Afghan Parliament, of the Status of Forces Agreement between Afghanistan and NATO and the Bilateral Security Agreement between Afghanistan and the United States. The Alliance now has the legal basis needed to move forward with our non-combat mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces from 1 January, as we agreed with the Afghan authorities. The new mission, Resolute Support, will build on the achievements of our ISAF mission. It will help the Afghan forces to further develop, as they assume full responsibility for their country’s security. Starting on 1 January, the future of Afghanistan will be in Afghan hands, but the support the Alliance provides will continue. Together with the Resolute Support mission, we will continue to assist the Afghan security forces financially. We will also strengthen our political consultations and practical cooperation through the Enduring Partnership between NATO and Afghanistan.
26 Nov 14. The Western powers negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear program failed to bring the Islamic republic “to its knees,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasted on Tuesday. A Twitter feed linked to and widely thought to speak for Khamenei on Wednesday doubled down on his remarks from the day before, which had been reported on his personal website. The supreme leader’s comments come in the wake of failed negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program and follow the decision to extend talks between Tehran and the P5+1 through June 2015. The extension was hailed by a range of Iranian officials – Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari told Iranian media that “Americans have very clearly surrendered to Iran’s might” and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that Iran scored a “great victory” from the talks’ extension, which includes the release of approximately $700m per month in frozen assets. Khamenei’s comments are likely to elicit calls in Washington for increased pressure on Iran as negotiations continue – The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg on Wednesday tweeted that it was “[g]etting harder to see the downside of triggered sanctions on Iran” in light of the supreme leader’s boasts. Top Democrats and Republicans in Washington have in recent days and weeks called for an increased role for lawmakers on Capitol Hill as negotiations with Tehran continue. The incoming Congress is reportedly preparing to reassert congressional oversight over the final contours of a nuclear deal – a tweet from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the incoming Majority Whip, shortly after the extension was announced indicated that the “bipartisan Congress will have more to say on [Iran negotiations] come January.” (Source: theisraelproject.org)
26 Nov 14. Libyan Air Force claims to have opened western campaign.
Key Points:
* It appears that the Libyan Air Force, rather than a foreign ally, has carried out its first airstrikes in the west of the country
* The aircraft that carried out the airstrikes might be MiG-21MF fighters supplied by Egypt
The Libyan Air Force appears to have carried out its first airstrikes in the west of the country, increasing pressure on the groups that control Tripoli. The remnants of the Ghadaffi-era air force are loyal to former general Khalifah Haftar, who is leading an alliance of military units and militias against the rival Libya Dawn coalition, which includes Islamist groups. The two sides operate on behalf of competing administrations based, respectively, in the east at Tobruk and in Tripoli. The air force has been operating several MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters out of bases in the east and using them to support Haftar’s Operation ‘Dignity’ against militias in Benghazi since May. It claimed in August that it had als