Tehran Times - Iran’s Leading International Daily

Pakistan : des insurgés baloutches visent les intérêts chinois à #Gwadar
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2019/05/13/pakistan-des-insurges-baloutches-visent-les-interets-chinois-a-gwadar_546151

https://img.lemde.fr/2019/05/11/533/0/4561/2278/1440/720/60/0/06611ed_5814658-01-06.jpg

L’attaque, samedi 11 mai, contre le seul hôtel de luxe de la petite ville portuaire de Gwadar, aux confins de la province du Baloutchistan, symbole de la présence chinoise au Pakistan, a fait cinq morts, dont quatre employés de l’établissement et un soldat. Les forces de sécurité sont parvenues à reprendre le contrôle des lieux, dimanche, après avoir tué les trois assaillants qui s’y étaient repliés. L’opération a été revendiquée par l’Armée de libération du Baloutchistan (ALB) qui visait « les Chinois et autres investisseurs étrangers ».

Le commando armé, habillé en militaires, s’était introduit à l’intérieur de l’hôtel, construit sur une colline faisant face à la mer. Souvent peu occupé, voire quasi désert, le Pearl Continental accueille généralement des officiels pakistanais de passage ou des étrangers, surtout des cadres chinois, travaillant à la construction d’un port en eau profonde qui doit être l’un des maillons des « nouvelles routes de la soie » promues par Pékin. Le premier ministre pakistanais, Imran Khan, a condamné l’attaque, considérant qu’elle voulait « saboter [les] projets économiques et [la] prospérité » du pays.

Le symbole est fort. Gwadar doit devenir le point d’ancrage sur la mer du Corridor économique Chine-Pakistan (CPEC), dans lequel Pékin a prévu d’investir 55 milliards d’euros pour relier la province occidentale chinoise du Xinjiang et la mer d’Arabie. En 2018, le responsable du développement portuaire de Gwadar, Dostain Jamaldini, indiquait au Monde « qu’en 2014, la ville n’était encore qu’un village de pêcheurs mais en 2020-23, nous disposerons de 2,6 kilomètres de quais capables de recevoir cinq cargos, et dans vingt ans, ce sera l’un des principaux ports du monde ».

Pour l’heure, en dépit de l’inauguration, au printemps 2018, par le premier ministre pakistanais d’alors, de plusieurs bâtiments construits par les Chinois dans la zone franche qui longe le port, l’activité demeure très faible.

#OBOR #One_Belt_One_Road

Militants used chemical material against civilians near Idlib: Syria - Tehran Times
▻http://www.tehrantimes.com/middle-east/107306-militants-used-chemical-material-against-civilians-near-idlib-sy

Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari has said that the foreign-backed militants in Syria have used chemical material against civilians during an attack on a town near Idlib.

Bashar al-Jaafari said at a press conference on Tuesday that the militants spread the contents of plastic bags containing chemical material during the attack.

Many residents were affected by the armed groups’ “heinous and irresponsible act,” the Syrian envoy said, warning that it was an attempt to “implicate the Syrian government on a false basis.”

Some of the victims were transferred to Turkey for treatment, Jaafari added.

The envoy went on to say that ’today or tomorrow Ankara and Western media would launch a new propaganda campaign against Damascus and claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own people.’

Reports say that two people were killed and 20 others injured in the militants’ chemical attack in Idlib.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington did not know how chemical material was used in another recent attack in Aleppo.

The Syrian government requested the UN to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the country after reports circulated that the foreign-backed militants had used chemical weapons against civilians in Khan al-Assal district of the northwestern province of Aleppo on March 19. Over two dozen people were killed and more than 100 injured in the chemical attack.

Obama said at a press conference on Tuesday that, “If I can establish in a way that not only the United States but also the international community feel confident in the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, then that is a game-changer.”

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government security forces and army personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Les échanges commerciaux entre l’Iran et les Émirats arabes unis se seraient élevé à 25 milliards de dollars en 2011 (selon l’ambassadeur iranien aux Émirats).
►http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/100396-uae-iran-aim-to-expand-trade-relations

Foreign trade turnover between the UAE and Iran totaled $25 billion in 2011, Iranian Ambassador to UAE Mohammad Reza Fayyad told Al-Jazeera.

Iran to supply electricity to Syria and Lebanon via Iraq
►http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/95606-iran-to-supply-electricity-to-syria-and-lebanon-via-iraq-

Iran will boost electricity exports to Iraq by 300 megawatts, through which 50 megawatts will be exported to Syria and Lebanon, IRNA news agency reported.
 
Iranian deputy energy minister Mohammad Behzad inked an agreement in Tehran on Saturday with deputy energy ministers of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to increase electricity exports to Iraq by 300 megawatts to reach 1,300 megawatts and transfer at least 50 megawatts via Iraq to Syria and Lebanon.