Mideastwire.com

WHAT WE DO

While there is a broad range of Arabic language media outlets reporting stories from and about the Middle East, there is currently no affordable and reliable means for English speakers to gain access to this content. As a result, many English speaking businesspersons, students, journalists and others who have an interest in the affairs of the region are largely unaware of what the Middle East media is covering and how they are covering these stories.

Mideastwire.com aims to close this gap by offering a daily menu of translations covering some of the key political, cultural, economic and opinion pieces appearing in the media of the 22 Arab countries and the Arab Diaspora. Through this effort, we hope to address at least one aspect of a global disconnect that continues to threaten a wide spectrum of socio-political and economic relationships, both here in the region and beyond.

It is also important to note that, since our founding in 2005, Mideastwire.com is wholly funded by the content license fees paid by individuals and organizations. As such, there is no government, commercial or non-profit support, an aspect that we believe provides a relatively independent platform for better understanding.

Our Corrections Policy: We adhere to an honest and open corrections policy. Please email info@mideastwire.com if you notice any typo or if you disagree with our translation choices. Since we do not produce our own content, we only will consider corrections that highlight typos or dispute our translations, not the veracity or accuracy of the original content. Accepted corrections are applied directly to the relevant translations as soon as they are approved by the editor and our database is updated accordingly for all subscribers.

TODAY’S DAILY BRIEFING

09-Jan-2023

Egypt

Opinion

“Egypt: God, let us become like Lebanon” (Newspaper, Middle East)

Financial Markets

On January 6, the Qatari-owned London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Wael Qandil: “The youngest student of economy and politics knows that the states’ connection to the loans of the International Monetary Fund is similar to the connection between an addict and his drug dealer, which often ends with the loss of he who surrendered to addiction, either by committing suicide or by getting killed with the sword of debt and poverty… In the case of states that are addicted to loans, the catastrophe is even greater, seeing as how this loss is not limited to the addict alone, but also affects an entire nation that finds itself addicted to idleness and weakness while pretending to be impotent and unresourceful… Accordingly, the alleged surprise or shock toward the tampering of the dollar with the local currency in Egypt is surprising in itself… (Read More)

Politics

“Egypt ignores reports surrounding “difficulties” in the relations with Israel” (Asharq al-Awsat, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy - Peace Process

On January 8, the Saudi-owned London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper carried the following report from Cairo: “Around one week after the phone call made by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah es-Sisi to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on forming the government, reports carried by Arab and Hebrew media outlets spoke about “difficulties” affecting the relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv against the backdrop of the measures taken by Netanyahu’s government against the Palestinians and Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque a few days ago. And while Cairo did not officially comment on those reports, an Egyptian source who is knowledgeable about the file of the relations with Tel Aviv told Asharq al-Awsat (on Sunday): “Egypt is dealing with the government formation as though there are two governments, not one… (Read More)

Iran

Politics

"Iranian-Russian deal: 6000 drones in return for steel dome" (Website, Middle East)

Military and Security

On January 8, the privately-owned Asas Media website carried the following report: "Europe has started to sense the threat of the non-nuclear Iranian weapons and the threat of the Iranian expansion and Tehran's disrespect of the countries borders. According to a source from the National Security Office who asked for his identity to remain undisclosed for administrative reasons, the Americans believe that a significant secret deal was reached between Iran and Russia where Iran will be delivering 6,000 suicide drones to Russia and an unlimited number of ballistic missiles the range of which is between 300 and 500 kilometers. In return, Russia will be delivering 30 to 50 Sukhoi 35 jets to Tehran, in addition to advanced S-400 air defense systems thus making the Iranian space a steel dome that's hard to infiltrate… (Read More)

“Iranian regime divided over ways to deal with protests” (Agencies, Middle East)

Unrest

On January 8, the Arabic page of Agence France Presse carried the following report: “The regime in Iran is divided over the ways to respond to the unprecedented protests that have been ongoing for months, thus oscillating between suppression and appeasement, as per analysts. At this level, Director of the Middle East Studies Center at the American University of Denver Nader Hashemi said that “the conflicting messages we are receiving from the Iranian regime point to an internal divide over the ways to deal with the ongoing protests,” assuring that “in most tyrannical regimes, there are hawks and doves” that diverge over the extent of the oppression that should be practiced in times of crisis. Hence, the approval of the retrying of a number of protesters who were sentenced to death and the release of prominent oppositionists indicate that some are seeking a more lenient approach… (Read More)

Iraq

Politics

“Imminent announcement of date of Sudani’s visit to Washington…” (Al-Mada, Iraq)

Arab Diplomacy - USA Europe

On January 9, the independent Al-Mada newspaper carried the following report from Baghdad by its correspondent Tamim al-Hassan: “Two officials close to the government assured that the visit of Prime Minister Mohammed as-Sudani to Washington and the non-exit of the non-combat US forces from Iraq have been settled. The two officials also revealed the existence of Shi’i pressures on As-Sudani in parallel to the crisis of the rising value of the dollar, pointing to Iraq’s ongoing need for American military and political support. In the meantime, a prominent Shi’i leader called on the government a few days ago to “immediately” expel the American forces from the country, before backing down and calling for the “scheduling of the withdrawal,” as per one of the factions represented in Parliament. It is worth mentioning that the factions and Iran started escalating the situation against the US in parallel to the third anniversary of the airport incident, which coincides with an expected visit by the prime minister to Washington… (Read More)

Israel

Opinion

“The Ben-Gvir-Netanyahu government and the Iranian file” (Filistin, Palestine)

Military and Security

On January 8, the pro-Hamas Filistin newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Dr. Youssef Razka: “We already said that among the main headlines of the Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir government’s policy are normalization with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on one hand, and the confrontation of the Iranian nuclear program on the other. And we already said that the Kingdom will not head toward normalization anytime soon for many reasons, namely the Kingdom’s interests, its leadership of the Sunni world, and its proposal of the Arab initiative. Another reason we did not previously mention is that the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Kingdom and the other Arab states are rejecting normalization, while the majority of the citizens in the Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan, are not at all interacting with this normalization… (Read More)

Politics

"Modest numbers: Israeli disappointment over the absence of UAE, Bahrain tourists" (Website, Middle East)

Tourism

On January 7, the electronic Al-Khaleej Online daily newspaper carried the following report: "It appears that Israel's plans have failed to attract the Gulf tourists following the normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain in 2020 due to the people's rejection of the idea of weaving relations with the Occupation state. Israel and the UAE on one hand, and Bahrain on the other hand had signed a number of agreements to encourage mutual tourism and to enhance bilateral cooperation in this sensitive economic sector on which the three countries have started to rely in the past years in light of the regression on the level of several economic sectors because of the global crisis… (Read More)

Lebanon

Opinion

"What are the Hezbollah-affiliated Radwan Brigades…?" (Newspaper, Middle East)

Military and Security

On January 8, the electronic Rai al-Youm daily newspaper carried the following editorial: "When we, in Rai al-Youm, said on multiple instances that the Lebanese South is bracing for confrontation with the Israeli Occupation that might entail an infiltration and control over Al-Jalil in northern Palestine, many accused us of exaggeration and wishful thinking… (Read More)

Politics

"Did Bassil request an appointment from Nasrallah?" (Website, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On January 7, the privately-owned Asas Media website carried the following report: "In his latest speech, the Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, spoke about "soon to encounter" with the Free Patriotic Movement [FPM] under the headline of "we are not forcing anyone to ally or to become friends or to agree with us, but we will not take our hand away before the other party does so… (Read More)

Syria

Politics

“Arab division toward Syrian-Turkish normalization and its conditions” (Asharq al-Awsat, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy - Peace Process

On January 8, the Saudi-owned London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper carried the following report from London by its correspondent Ibrahim Hamidi: “The UAE is trying to join Russia on a high level in sponsoring Syrian-Turkish normalization, at a time when America and Arab states are trying to put the brakes on the progress of the “normalization train,” or set conditions to allow it to proceed toward its final destination…, which points to an Arab division toward normalization. According to the information made available to Asharq al-Awsat, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad will be meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, amid efforts to arrange the participation of Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed to make it a quartet meeting… (Read More)

Tunisia

Politics

"Political obstacles on the way of Tunisia's finalization of agreement with IMF" (Newspaper, Middle East)

Financial Markets - USA Europe

On January 8, the London-based Al-Arab daily newspaper carried the following report: "Observers of the political affairs in Tunisia said there are some sides seeking to hinder the negotiations and eventual agreement with the IMF despite the fact that several steps have been taken to implement the Fund's conditions through the finance law that included elements in response to these conditions… Tunisia is hoping that the IMF will agree to a 1.9 billion dollar grant, which will be used to adjust the country's financial balances, finance its budget, and open doors for financial agreements with other donors. In return, Tunis will commit to a number of reforms… (Read More)

Yemen

Politics

"…Bin Salman to Ansarullah: Take Yemen and give us security guarantees" (Al-Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon)

Arab Diplomacy - Military and Security - Peace Process

On January 6, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report: "The situation in Yemen is still revolving in the no-war and no-peace zone. Sanaa recently announced, in a repeated and clear manner, that it will not accept this situation to become a fait accompli, pledging to come up with a quick solution that shall settle things in one direction: Either a state of peace that meets Sanaa's terms, or war that shall allow it to impose these terms… (Read More)

Co-Founder: Nicholas Noe

Address any queries to:

info@mideastwire.com