Arabic press review: Israelis hold conference on Iran protests

Israeli conference to discuss Iran's protests

Israeli academics have organised a conference to discuss recent protests in Iran and whether they could lead to the fall of the Islamic Republic. The conference witnessed the participation of Israeli ministers and politicians, according to Arabi21.

The Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs (JCPA), run by Dore Gold, a former undersecretary of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, hosted a number of Israeli officials and experts to a conference, organised on Wednesday, to discuss “Iranian protests and the possibility of destabilising the Iranian regime.“

During the conference, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that "the economic pressure on Iran could lead to its collapse in just one year, and the United States is required to dry up the sources of the regime in Tehran to force it to dismantle its nuclear programs."

In his address, Steinitz added that "Iran must understand that the American determination to stop the Iranian nuclear project is serious and firm, and that Washington may be willing to exert military pressure or carry out a military operation against Iran if it returns to its attempts to produce nuclear weapons because it considers itself obliged to destroy any nuclear facility in Iran, regardless of where it is located, or whatever air defence system that is provided to protect it."

"The Iranian regime chose to acquire nuclear weapons instead of economic benefits, and the Iranian public is aware of this, so it began to demonstrate," said Dore Gold, head of the institute and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

He added that "the administration of former US President Barack Obama was wrong when it thought that its positions towards Tehran could modify its policy, and make it more lenient, through the signing of the nuclear agreement, but Iran in return increased its presence and spread in the Middle East and is trying today to reach Jordan, and even Turkey."

America asks Europe to monitor Iran's embassies

A State Department official said that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to urge European countries to closely monitor the activities of Iranian embassies on the sidelines of the NATO summit, which launched in Brussels on Wednesday, in order to increase pressure on Iran, the Saudi al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.

The US official said that his country was discussing with several parties “how Iran could use embassies as a cover for planning terrorist attacks,” and pointed to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat in Germany during a foiled plan to blow up an Iranian opposition meeting in Paris two weeks ago.

The US official said that the United States "urges all countries to carefully check the background of diplomats at Iranian embassies to ensure their security."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qasimi dismissed the statements made by the American official, saying that they were "baseless" and that they were "in the context of the psychological war against Iranian embassies."

French MP demands to ban on teaching of Arabic

A Republican member of the French National Assembly demanded an end to programs teaching indigenous languages and cultures to migrants from nine countries, including Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and a ban the teaching of Arabic to the children of these communities, according to the Algerian Echorouk el-Yawmi newspaper.

The request came in the form of a written request by MP Pierre Vatin, a Republican, addressed to the Minister of National Education on 10 July.

The demand is reported to have drawn the attention of the Minister of National Education to the teaching of indigenous cultures’ languages known as "ELCO", which was due to expire in February 2016.

US airport in Kuwait

Kuwait is expected to witness the inauguration of an airport for supplies and military logistics for the United States. This port will be the largest of its kind in the Middle East, according to Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai.

The US Air Force and Army are close to completing the construction of the "Shipping City" which will be a secondary airport close to Kuwait International Airport. This airport will serve US military forces and allied forces as well as the Kuwaiti Air Force, according to the newspaper.

An official statement issued by the US Forces Command in Kuwait said that the “Shipping City” will be "the largest freight port in the Middle East," and that it will be “a strategic military supply point aimed at bridging the gap until the completion of the construction of the Western al-Mubarak air base, which is scheduled to open in 2023."