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General Middle East & North Africa Thread

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Okay, every topic that has even remotely to do with the middle east keeps getting more general news put into it which removes focus from the original topic.

As such, I'm creating this thread as a general middle east and north africa topic. That means anything to do with the Arab Spring, Israel or Palestine should be kept to those threads and anything to do with more generic news (for example, new Saudi regulations on the number of foreign workers or the Lebanese elections next year, etc.) should be posted here.

I hope the mods will find this a clear enough statement of intent to open the thread.

Mod edit: The Israel and Palestine thread has been locked since October 2023. Discussion about Palestine and/or Israel remains off-topic for this thread. This also bans discussion of any military conflict, terrorism or extrajudicial actions involving one of them and a third country (e.g. Israel's air strikes in Yemen).

Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 28th 2024 at 12:26:59 PM

TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1576: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:59:54 AM

We put Pakistan and India related stuff in South Asia thread. But these things cross lines sometimes.

Edited by TerminusEst on Jun 20th 2019 at 6:00:13 AM

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1577: Jun 20th 2019 at 6:21:10 AM

[up][up][up] They’re saying it was shot down by a Raad ADS which is roughly comparable to an SA-11.

They should have sent a poet.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1578: Jun 20th 2019 at 6:30:54 AM

Apparently it wasn't actually a Triton, but a BAMS-D. I saw some talk about them being used until the official deployment of Triton.

Edited by TerminusEst on Jun 20th 2019 at 6:32:30 AM

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1579: Jun 20th 2019 at 8:22:54 AM

[up] Could end up being pretty bad. Those are currently being used as testbeds for exotic equipment.

They should have sent a poet.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#1580: Jun 20th 2019 at 9:06:34 AM

The Houthis just targeted a water desalination plant in Jizan, southwest KSA.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#1581: Jun 20th 2019 at 1:41:35 PM

I've been hearing that they actually managed to slip some of their rockets past our defenses this past week.

By the way, does India count as Middle East? Does the subcontinent as a whole? Or does the Middle East end in Pakistan?
Even if you go by the widest scope of the common "Greater Middle East" definition, Pakistan is as far east as the geographical extent of the term goes.

Edited by MarqFJA on Jun 20th 2019 at 11:42:53 AM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#1582: Jun 20th 2019 at 1:55:59 PM

Yeah normally Pakistan and Afghanistan aren’t considered part of the Middle East, Hell Iran isn’t Arab So if you define the Middle East as the Arab World even Iran doesn’t count.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#1583: Jun 20th 2019 at 10:47:01 PM

Central Asia generally isn't considered part of the Middle East either, despite being majority Muslim and culturally similar to Persians and Turks with some Mongolian and Russian influences.

Edited by CookingCat on Sep 18th 2019 at 3:10:21 AM

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1584: Jun 21st 2019 at 9:37:58 AM

Give them long enough and the Houthis will fuck up Asir and Jizan something fierce.

Alas, all it does is increase Saudi resolve, I'm sure.

uncannybeetle Since: Apr, 2012
#1585: Jul 11th 2019 at 12:06:21 PM

In non-conflict related news. The UAE is planning on towing an iceberg from Antarctica to the Middle East. https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/05/will-an-emirati-businessman-succeed-in-towing-an-iceberg-to-the-uae

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#1586: Jul 11th 2019 at 12:50:39 PM

... A very outlandish idea, but only an actual attempt will prove or disprove whether it's Crazy Enough to Work.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
uncannybeetle Since: Apr, 2012
#1587: Jul 11th 2019 at 12:55:14 PM

Apparently Saudi Arabia had the idea back in the 70s but it wasn't feasible then. Supposedly this guy has finally developed the technology to do it.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#1588: Jul 11th 2019 at 2:03:53 PM

I am extraordinarily sceptical of this concept, especially after reading this part:

According to the Emirati, floating an iceberg off the coastline of the UAE could lead to more rain in the neighbouring desert, which would be of benefit to local agriculture.

Quite aside from the fact that he doesn't mention a mechanism for this, the cooling effect of a block of ice would if anything suppress precipitation through adiabatic descent.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1589: Jul 16th 2019 at 10:56:19 AM

They are better off trying to fight the desert through planting. At least they've had (rather modest) success there. This seems a tad batshit...

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#1590: Jul 30th 2019 at 6:03:34 PM

News in recent weeks is mentioning Princess Haya hiding in the UK, which is a major stumbling block for London since they're a major ally of the UAE.

Some journalists covering the story suggests that she has info on what's happening to Shieka Latifa and why she tried to escape and what happened to her since.

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#1591: Sep 14th 2019 at 10:42:30 AM

Saudi Arabia oil production reduced by drone strikes

Saudi Arabia's oil production has been severely disrupted by drone attacks on two major oil facilities run by state-owned company Aramco, reports say.

Sources quoted by Reuters and WSJ said the strikes had reduced production by five million barrels a day - nearly half the kingdom's output.

The fires are now under control at both facilities, Saudi state media say.

A spokesman for the Houthi rebel group in Yemen said it had deployed 10 drones in the attacks.

The Saudis lead a military coalition backing Yemen's government, while Iran backs the Houthi rebels.

The Houthi spokesman, Yahya Sarea, told al-Masirah TV, which is owned by the Houthi movement and is based in Beirut, that further attacks could be expected in the future.

He said Saturday's attack was one of the biggest operations the Houthi forces had undertaken inside Saudi Arabia and was carried out in "co-operation with the honourable people inside the kingdom".

TV footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco's largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.

United Nations envoy Martin Griffiths described the attacks as "extremely worrying" in a statement in which he called on all parties in the Yemen conflict to exercise restraint.

Saudi officials have yet to comment on who they think is behind the attacks.

"At 04:00 (01:00 GMT), the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of... drones," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

"The two fires have been controlled."

There have been no details on the damage but AFP news agency quoted interior ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki as saying there were no casualties.

Abqaiq is about 60km (37 miles) south-west of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, while Khurais, some 200km further south-west, has the country's second largest oilfield.

Saudi security forces foiled an attempt by al-Qaeda to attack the Abqaiq facility with suicide bombers in 2006.

Markets await news from key facilities

Analysis by BBC business correspondent Katie Prescott

Aramco is not only the world's biggest oil producer, it is also one of the world's most profitable businesses.

The Khurais oilfield produces about 1% of the world's oil, and Abqaiq is the company's largest facility - with the capacity to process 7% of the global supply. Even a brief or partial disruption could affect the company, and the oil supply, given their size.

There was a sharp intake of breath as analysts I spoke to today digested the information that reports suggest that half of Saudi Arabia's oil production could have been knocked offline by these attacks.

The country produces 10% of the world's crude oil. Cutting this in half could have a significant effect on the oil price come Monday when markets open.

However, Aramco has yet to confirm the scale of the damage.

The success of the drone strike shows the vulnerability of its infrastructure, at a time when it is trying to show itself in its best light while gearing up to float on the stock market.

And it raises concerns that escalating tensions in the region could pose a broader risk to oil, potentially threatening the fifth of the world's supply that goes through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

An attack method open to all

This latest attack underlines the strategic threat posed by the Houthis to Saudi Arabia's oil installations.

The growing sophistication of the Houthis' drone operations is bound to renew the debate as to where this capability comes from. Have the Houthis simply weaponised commercial civilian drones or have they had significant assistance from Iran?

The Trump administration is likely to point the finger squarely at Tehran, but experts vary in the extent to which they think Iran is facilitating the drone campaign.

The Saudi air force has been pummelling targets in Yemen for years. Now the Houthis have a capable, if much more limited, ability to strike back. It shows that the era of armed drone operations being restricted to a handful of major nations is now over.

Drone technology, albeit of varying degrees of sophistication, is available to all - from the US to China, Israel and Iran - and from the Houthis to Hezbollah.

Who are the Houthis?

The Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement has been fighting the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been at war since 2015, when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the capital Sanaa by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backs President Hadi, and has led a coalition of regional countries against the rebels.

The coalition launches air strikes almost every day, while the Houthis often fire missiles into Saudi Arabia.

Mr Sarea, the Houthi group's military spokesman, told al-Masirah that operations against Saudi targets would "only grow wider and will be more painful than before, so long as their aggression and blockade continues".

Houthi fighters were blamed for drone attacks on the Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility last month, and on other oil facilities in May.

There have been other sources of tension in the region, often stemming from the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia and the US both blamed Iran for attacks in the Gulf on two oil tankers in June and July, allegations Tehran denied.

In May four tankers, two of them Saudi-flagged, were damaged by explosions within the UAE's territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman.

Tension in the vital shipping lanes worsened when Iran shot down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz in June, leading a month later to the Pentagon announcing the deployment of US troops to Saudi Arabia.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Sep 14th 2019 at 7:43:44 PM

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1592: Sep 14th 2019 at 11:32:44 AM

The Houthis once again show their world class prowess as practitioners of the Rock Beats Laser trope....

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#1593: Sep 14th 2019 at 12:04:57 PM

They're also hitting the Saudis right where it hurts, straight in the wallet.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Sep 14th 2019 at 9:06:23 PM

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#1594: Sep 14th 2019 at 2:08:24 PM

The Saudis are pointing the finger at Iran for this.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1595: Sep 14th 2019 at 5:11:46 PM

Only because they consider the Houthis to be an arm of Iran. Reality is a bit more complicated than that.

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#1596: Sep 17th 2019 at 3:59:34 PM

This is according to exit polls only, but it looks like Netanyahu has suffered a massive defeat, most likely, at the hand of increased turnout of Arabs voting for leftist parties to stop the PM. Feels good to be an optimist and correctly predict the positive outcome sometimes.

Life is unfair...
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1597: Sep 17th 2019 at 6:37:26 PM

exit polls are not the official results. Don't jump to conclusions just yet.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#1598: Sep 17th 2019 at 10:35:46 PM

Ay, besides, Israel works on coalition politics so it might still be enough for a semi-coalition.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#1599: Sep 19th 2019 at 5:04:20 AM

Another documentary on the shenanigans with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the family.

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#1600: Sep 20th 2019 at 5:11:48 PM

Trump deploying US troops to help defend Saudi Arabia and speed up weapons deliveries.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."

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