Page 13 - MEOG Week 26 2021

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

US warns allies against sanctions from the United States under that
POLICY transactions don’t expose them to potential
Iran oil, refinery workers restoring ties with Syria act.” Earlier this year, Emirati Foreign Minister

get support in pay demands A senior US official has warned countries in Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said the Caesar
the Middle East against restoring ties with
Act makes it difficult to cooperate with Syria
Several trade unions and federations in Iran Syria, citing atrocities committed by the and reintegrate it into the Arab League.
and abroad have backed the strike of contract government of President Bashar al-Assad, “To keep the Caesar Act as it is today
workers in the Iranian oil sector which began as well as stringent sanctions against doing makes this path very difficult, not only for us
June 19 at a number of sites in south. The business with Damascus. as a nation, but also for the private sector,” he
strike is spreading in oil-rich southern and On a call to reporters on Friday, Joey said in March.
southwestern provinces as well to refineries in Hood, acting assistant secretary of state The law is designed to make it difficult for
Tehran and Esfahan. for Near East affairs, said Washington’s the Syrian government, which has all but won
In the past few days, the Syndicate opposition to the Syrian government would the 10-year civil war, to trade with the outside
of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar not change unless there was a “major change world and engage in reconstruction efforts.
Company, the Trotskyist International Labour in behaviour” in Damascus. The conflict began with a brutal
Network of Solidarity and Struggles, labour “With regard to others, who may be government crackdown on pro-democracy
unions in Sweden, the Federation of Oil considering making moves, we are asking protesters in 2011.
Unions of Iraq, and an Iranian teachers’ trade them to consider very carefully the atrocities It quickly turned into an all-out civil
union have all issued statements in support of committed by the regime on the Syrian war between the Syrian army and fractured
industrial action called by the ‘Coordination people over the last decade, as well as the opposition armed groups amid the rise of
Council of Oil Industries Contract Workers.’ regime’s continuing efforts to deny much of hardline militants, including the Islamic State
The potential economic damage is still not the country access to humanitarian aid and (IS) group and al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front -
clear, but Iran heavily relies on earning foreign security,” Hood said. now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
currency from the export of petrochemicals The US official’s remarks come amid Military backing from Russia, Iran and
while its crude exports are sanctioned by the reports of rapprochement between Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah turned the tide in favour
United States. Saudi Arabia, a close US partner. of Assad.
Ms. Parvin Mohammadi, Deputy Secretary The UAE, another American ally, had Currently, the government is in control of
of the Iranian Independent Workers Union, reestablished diplomatic ties with the Syrian most of the urban centres. But Turkish-backed
said Monday that strikes in the oil sector had government late in 2018. Last year, Abu Dhabi groups, the US-backed and Kurdish-led
spread to 70 companies in eight provinces. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed held Syrian Democratic Forces and the rebel group
Speaking to Iran International TV a phone call with Assad and called Syria a HTS all have swaths of territory under their
from Tehran, Mohammadi said authorities “brotherly” Arab country. control, mostly in the north.
including Oil Minister Bijan Namdar- On Friday, Hood waved the prospect of The war has killed hundreds of thousands
Zanganeh had not addressed the workers’ secondary sanctions against countries that of people and displaced millions, causing one
demands. “They always wipe out the question normalise relations with Syria - stemming of the worst refugee crises in modern history.
instead of answering it,” she said, adding from the Caesar Act, a 2020 law that applies US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set
that authorities made empty promises and sweeping measures to restrict the financial to participate in a ministerial meeting on Syria
arrested workers if they refused to end operations of the Syrian government. with allies in Rome next week.
protests or strikes. Independent unions are “This is a law that has wide bipartisan On Friday, Hood said Blinken would
not recognized by the government and are support in the Congress, and the reassert US support for keeping border
restricted. administration is going to follow the law on crossings into Syria open for the delivery of
IRAN INTL that,” Hood said. humanitarian assistance. He also confirmed
“And so governments and businesses need that Washington plans on keeping its “limited
to be careful that their proposed or envisioned military presence” in the war-torn country,

Week 26 30•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13