Migrant crisis, Burundi attack, North Korea, Iran deal lobby…

Migrant crisis undermines Long Time EU Border Agreement

Germany’s decision to reimpose border controls, has created a domino effect with other E.U countries doing the same as the crisis worsens.  The 1995 Schengen agreement had guaranteed passport and visa-free travel as well as no border checks within the EU, but with hundreds of thousands of mostly Syrian migrants at the gates, one of the main pillars of Europe’s political and economic union is crumbling.

Playing into Germany’s decision is the security threat posed by the migrants.  Lebanese Education Minister Elias Bousaab recently told British Prime Minister David Cameron during the latter’s visit to refugee camps in the Levant that ‘2 out of a 100 migrants’ may be Islamic State infiltrators.  Lebanon, a small country with a population of a little over 5 million, has taken in close to a million Syrians. Lebanon has been a prominent IS target, giving Mr. Boussab additional credibility.

Burundi’s democratic process under fire

Attacks against the regime of President Pierre Nkurunziza continue in the capital of Bujumbura, as General Prime Niyongabo, chief of the armed forces, survived an assassination attempt.  At this time, no one has claimed responsibility, but renegade generals who staged a failed coup in May are suspected.  To his credit, Nkurunziza was quick to call for unity instead of retaliation, as he had previously done.  The failed attack against his top general underscores his fragile hold on power, as the opposition may be seeking to rally disaffected military officers to their cause.

Back to nuclear business as usual for North Korea  

The hermit kingdom is once again playing its nuclear card for attention, as reports indicate that Pyongyang is preparing a ‘satellite launch,’ which may be cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.  While no timeline has been given, it is by no means a coincidence that the DPRK has announced that its nuclear plant in Yongbyon, north of the capital, is fully operational.  This plant contains an uranium enrichment facility from which the North Koreans extracted fuel for their nuclear arsenal.  South Korea has already called for its northern counterpart to refrain from launching the missiles, but there’s no reason to believe Kim Jong-Un would heed calls for restraint.

Iran lobby in Washington underwritten by mysterious Persian-American family

Few celebrated the Iran deal conclusion in Congress more than the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a lobbying group that was able to successfully overcome strong opposition. But just how did they manage it?  A report in The Daily Beast shines a light on an obscure Iranian expat family, the Namazis.  Patriarch Muhammad Bagher Namazi, a former governor of Khuzestan province under the Shah, heads a multi-national business interest that has made multiple deals with the Iranian regime, adeptly navigating the regime’s convoluted and corrupt economy dominated by Ayatollah Khameinei, the Revolutionary Guard, and multiple former Iranian presidents.  Profits from these deals may have given the Namazis the means to fund NIAC, an organization that many regard as the regime’s “Iran lobby”.

Other stories we’re following:

As Iran deal is debated in Congress, rest of the world lines up to do business in Tehran

Russia sending advanced weaponry to Syria

Iran directly responsible for American deaths in Iraq war

Violence in Turkey could revert to Kurd-Turkey war

Algerian intelligence chief fired

IS use of chemical weapons suspected

IAEA Chief to visit Tehran

Khameinei’s business dealings win big in Iran deal

Al-Shabaab beheads two accused of spying

Moscow calls for talks with US over Syria

West dismissed Russian offer for Assad to resign in 2012