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zvaigzdelasas · 5 months

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[BBC is UK State Media]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has funded politically-motivated assassinations in Yemen, a BBC investigation has found, exacerbating a conflict involving the Yemeni government and warring factions which has recently returned to the international spotlight following attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Counter-terrorism training provided by American mercenaries to Emirati officers in Yemen has been used to train locals who can work under a lower profile - sparking a major uptick in political assassinations, a whistleblower told BBC Arabic Investigations.

The BBC has also found that despite the American mercenaries' stated aim to eliminate the jihadist groups al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) in southern Yemen, in fact the UAE has gone on to recruit former al-Qaeda members for a security force it has created on the ground in Yemen to fight the Houthi rebel movement and other armed factions.

The UAE government has denied the allegations in our investigation - that it had assassinated those without links to terrorism - saying they were "false and without merit".

These are largely between the two parts of the "real" "legitimate" "internationally recognized" coalition govt of Yemen you've been scolded so much about over the last month btw [22 Jan 24]

Continued after the cut

The killing spree in Yemen - more than 100 assassinations in a three-year period - is just one element of an ongoing bitter internecine conflict pitting several international powers against each other in the Middle East's poorest country.[...]

In 2015, the US and the UK supported a coalition of mostly Arab states led by Saudi Arabia - with the UAE as a key partner - to fight back. The coalition invaded Yemen with the aim of reinstating the exiled Yemeni government and fighting terrorism. The UAE was given charge of security in the south, and became the US's key ally on counter-terrorism in the region - al-Qaeda had long been a presence in the south and was now gaining territory.[...]

Under international law, any killing of civilians without due process would be counted as extra-judicial.

The majority of those assassinated were members of Islah - the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. It [...] has never been classified by the US as a terror organisation, but is banned in several Arab countries - including the UAE where its political activism and support for elections is seen by the country's royal family as a threat to their rule.

Leaked drone footage of the first assassination mission gave me a starting point from which to investigate these mysterious killings. It was dated December 2015 and was traced to members of a private US security company called Spear Operations Group.[...]

Isaac Gilmore, a former US Navy Seal who later became chief operating officer of Spear, was one of several Americans who say they were hired to carry out assassinations in Yemen by the UAE.

He refused to talk about anyone who was on the "kill list" provided to Spear by the UAE - other than the target of their first mission: Ansaf Mayo, a Yemeni MP who is the leader of Islah in the southern port city of Aden, the government's temporary capital since 2015.[...]

Mr Gilmore, and another Spear employee in Yemen at the time - Dale Comstock - told me that the mission they conducted ended in 2016. But the assassinations in southern Yemen continued. In fact they became more frequent, according to investigators from the human rights group Reprieve.

They investigated 160 killings carried out in Yemen between 2015 and 2018. They said the majority happened from 2016 and only 23 of the 160 people killed had links to terrorism. All the killings had been carried out using the same tactics that Spear had employed - the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) as a distraction, followed by a targeted shooting. The most recent political assassination in Yemen, according to Yemeni human rights lawyer Huda al-Sarari, happened just last month - of an imam killed in Lahj by the same method.[...]

Mr Gilmore, Mr Comstock, and two other mercenaries from Spear who asked not to be named, said that Spear had been involved in training Emirati officers in the UAE military base in Aden. A journalist who asked to remain anonymous also told us he had seen footage of such training.

As the mercenaries' profile had made them conspicuous in Aden and vulnerable to exposure, their brief had been changed to training Emirati officers, "who in turn trained local Yemenis to do the targeting", the Yemeni military officer told me.

Through the course of the investigation, we also spoke to more than a dozen other Yemeni sources who said this had been the case. They included two men who said they had carried out assassinations which were not terror-related, after being trained to do so by Emirati soldiers - and one man who said he had been offered release from a UAE prison in exchange for the assassination of a senior Yemeni political figure, a mission he did not accept.

Getting Yemenis to conduct the assassinations meant it was harder for the killings to be traced back to the UAE.

By 2017, the UAE had helped build a paramilitary force, part of the Emirati-funded Southern Transitional Council (STC), a security organisation that runs a network of armed groups across southern Yemen.

The force operated in southern Yemen independently of the Yemeni government, and would only take orders from the UAE. The fighters were not just trained to fight on active front lines. One particular unit, the elite Counter Terrorism Unit, was trained to conduct assassinations, our whistleblower told us.

The whistleblower sent a document with 11 names of former al-Qaeda members now working in the STC, some of whose identities we were able to verify ourselves.

During our investigation we also came across the name Nasser al-Shiba. Once a high-ranking al-Qaeda operative, he was jailed for terrorism but later released. A Yemeni government minister we spoke to told us al-Shiba was a known suspect in the attack on the US warship USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors in October 2000. Multiple sources told us that he is now the commander of one of the STC military units. Lawyer Huda al-Sarari has been investigating human rights abuses committed by these UAE-backed forces on the ground. As a result of her work, she would frequently receive death threats. But it was her 18-year-old son Mohsen who paid the ultimate price.

He was shot in the chest in March 2019 while on a trip to a local petrol station, and died a month later.[...]

A subsequent investigation by Aden's public prosecutor found that Mohsen was killed by a member of the UAE-backed Counter Terrorism Unit, but the authorities have never pursued a prosecution.

Members of the prosecutor's office - who we cannot name for safety reasons - told us that the widespread assassinations have created a climate of fear that means even they are too afraid to pursue justice in cases involving forces backed by the UAE.

Reprieve has received a leaked UAE document that shows Spear was still being paid in 2020, though it is not clear in what capacity.

#quite a piece

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mightyflamethrower · 10 months

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“Name me a single objective we’ve ever set out to accomplish that we’ve failed on. Name me one, in all of our history. Not one!”

-President Joe Biden, August 16, 2023

Joe Biden in one of his now accustomed angry “get off my grass” moods dared the press to find just one of his policies/objectives that has not worked. Silence followed.

Perhaps it was polite to say nothing, given even the media knows almost every enacted Biden policy has failed.

Here is a summation of what he should instead apologize for.

Biden in late summer 2021 sought a 20th anniversary celebration of 9/11 and the 2001 subsequent invasion of Afghanistan. He wished to be the landmark president that yanked everyone out of Afghanistan after 20 years in country. But the result was the greatest military humiliation of the United States since the flight from Vietnam in 1975.

Consider the ripples of Biden’s disaster. U.S. deterrence was crippled worldwide. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea almost immediately began to bluster or return to their chronic harassment of U.S. and allied ships and planes. We left thousands of allied Afghans to face Taliban retribution, along with some Western contractors.

Biden abandoned a $1 billion embassy, and a $300 million remodeled Bagram airbase strategically located not far from China and Russia, and easily defensible. Perhaps $50 billion in U.S. weaponry and supplies were abandoned and now find their way into the international terrorist mart.

All our pride flags, our multimillion gender studies programs at Kabul University, and our George Floyd murals did not just come to naught, but were replaced by the Taliban’s anti-homosexual campaigns, burkas, and detestation of any trace of American popular culture.

Vladimir Putin sized up the skedaddle. He collated it with Biden’s unhinged quip that he would not get too excited if Putin just staged a “minor” invasion of Ukraine. He remembered Biden’s earlier request to Putin to modulate Russian hacking to exempt a few humanitarian American institutions. Then Russia concluded of our shaky Commander-in-Chief that he either did not care or could do nothing about another Russian invasion.

The result so far is more than 500,000 dead and wounded in the war, a Verdun-stand-off along with fortified lines, the steady depletion of our munitions and weapon stocks, and a new China/Russia/Iran/North Korean axis, with wink and nod assistance from NATO Turkey.

Biden blew up the Abraham accords, nudged Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States over to the dark side of Iran, China, and Russia. He humiliated the U.S. on the eve of the midterms by callously begging the likes of Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and Saudi Arabia to pump more oil that he had damned as unclean at home and cut back its production. In Bidenomics, instead of producing oil, the president begs autocracies to export it to us at high prices while he drains the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for short-term political advantage.

Biden deliberately alienated Israel by openly interfering in its domestic politics. He pursued the crackpot Iran Deal while his special Iranian envoy was removed for disclosing classified information.

No one can explain why Biden ignored the Chinese balloon espionage caper, kept mum about the engineered Covid virus that escaped the Wuhan lab, said not a word about a Chinese biolab discovered in rural California, and had his envoys either bow before Chinese leaders or take their insults in silence—other than he is either cognitively challenged or leveraged by his decade-long grifting partnership with his son Hunter.

Yet another Biden’s legacy will be erasing the southern border and with it, U.S. immigration law. Over seven million aliens simply crossed into the U.S. illegally with Biden’s tacit sanction—without audits, background checks, vaccinations, and COVID testing, much less English fluency, skills, or high-school diplomas.

Biden’s only immigration accomplishment was to render the entire illegal sanctuary city movement a cruel joke. Given the flood, mostly rich urban and vacation home dwellers made it very clear that while they fully support millions swarming into poor Latino communities of southern Texas and Arizona, they do not want any illegal aliens fouling their carefully cultivated nests.

Biden is mum about the 100,000 fentanyl deaths from cartel-imported and Chinese-supplied drugs across his open border. He seems to like the idea that Mexican President Obrador periodically mouths off, ordering his vast expatriate community to vote Democratic and against Trump.

Despite all the pseudo-blue collar dissimulation about Old Joe Biden from Scranton, he has little empathy for the working classes. Indeed, he derides them as chumps and dregs, urges miners to learn coding as the world covets their coal, and studiously avoids getting anywhere near the toxic mess in East Palestine, Ohio, or so far the moonscape on Maui.

Bidenomics is a synonym for printing up to $6 billion dollars at precisely the time post-Covid consumer demand was soaring, while previously dormant supply chains were months behind rebooting production and transportation. Biden is on track to increase the national debt more than any one-term president.

In Biden’s weird logic, if he raised the price of energy, gasoline, and key food staples 20-30 percent since his inauguration without a commensurate rise in wages, and then saw the worst inflation in 40 years occasionally decline from record highs one month to the next, then he “beat inflation.”

But the reason why more than 60 percent of the nation has no confidence in Bidenomics is because it destroyed their household budgets. Gas is nearly twice what it was in January 2021. Interest rates have about tripled. Key staple foods are often twice as costly—meat, vegetables, and fruits especially.

Biden has ended through his weaponized Attorney General Merrick Garland the age-old American commitment to equal justice under the law. The FBI, DOJ, CIA, and IRS are hopelessly politically compromised. Many of their bureaucrats serve as retrieval agents for lost Biden family incriminating laptops, diaries, and guns. In sum, Biden criminalized opposing political views.

Biden has unleashed the administrative state for the first time in history to destroy the Republican primary front runner and his likely opponent. His legacy will be the corruption of U.S. jurisprudence and the obliteration of the American reputation for transparent permanent government that should be always above politics, bribery, and corruption.

If in the future, an on-the-make conservative prosecutor in West Virginia, Utah, or Mississippi wishes to make a national name, then he has ample precedent to indict a Democrat President for receiving bad legal advice, questioning the integrity of an election, or using social media to express doubt that the new non-Election-Day balloting was on the up-and-up, or supposedly overvaluing his real estate.

The Biden family’s decade-long family grifting will likely expose Joe Biden as the first president in U.S. history who fitted precisely the Constitution’s definition of impeachment and removal—given his “high crimes and misdemeanors” appear “bribery”-related. If further evidence shows he altered U.S. foreign policy in accordance with the wishes from his benefactors in Ukraine, China, or Romania, then he committed constitutionally-defined “treason” as well.

Defunding the police, and pandemics of exempted looting, shoplifting, smashing, and grabbing, and carjacking merit no administrative attention. Nor does the ongoing systematic destruction of our blue bicoastal cities, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. All that, along with the disasters in East Palestine or Maui are out of sight, out of mind from a day at the beach at Biden’s mysteriously purchased nearly 6,000 square-foot beachfront mansion.

Biden ran on Barack Obama-like 2004 rhetoric (“Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America).”

And like Obama, he used that ecumenical sophistry to gain office only to divide further the U.S. No sooner than he was elected, we began hearing from the great unifier eerie screaming harangues about “semi-fascists” and “ultra-MAGA” dangerous zealots, replete with red-and black Phantom of the Opera backdrops.

What followed the unifying rhetoric was often amnesties and exemptions for violent offenders during the 120 days of rioting, looting, killing, and attacks on police officers in summer 2020. In contrast, his administration lied when it alleged that numerous officers had died at the hands of the January 6 rioters. In addition, the Biden administration mandated long-term incarceration of many who committed no illegal act other than acting like buffoons and “illegally parading.”

The message was exemptions for torching a federal courthouse, a police precinct, or historic church or attempting to break into the White House grounds to get a president and his family—but long prison terms for wearing cow horns, a fur vest, and trespassing peacefully like a lost fool in the Capitol.

Finally, Biden’s most glaring failure was simply being unpresidential. He snaps at reporters, and shouts at importune times. He can no longer read off a big-print teleprompter. Even before a global audience, he cannot kick his lifelong creepy habit of turkey-gobbling on children necks, blowing into their ears and hair of young girls, and squeezing women far too long and far too hard.

His frailty redefined American presidential campaigning as basement seclusion and outsourcing propaganda to the media. And his disabilities only intensified during his presidency. Biden begins his day late and quits early. He has recalibrated the presidency as a 5-hour, 3-day a week job.

If Trump was the great exaggerator, Biden is our foremost liar. Little in his biography can be fully believed. He lies about everything from his train rides to the death of his son to his relationship with Biden-family foreign collaborators, to vaccinations to the economy. Anytime Biden mentions places visited, miles flown, or rails ridden, he is likely lying.

Biden continues with impunity because the media feels that a mentally challenged fabulist is preferable to Donald Trump and so contextualizes or ignores his falsehoods. Never has a U.S. president fallen and stumbled or gotten lost on stage so frequently—or been a single small trip away from incapacity.

So, yes, Biden’s initiatives have succeeded only in the sense of becoming successfully enacted—and therefore nearly destroying the country.

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intersectionalpraxis · 5 months

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Full Text:

UK and US striking Yemen - analysis

Last night's strikes on Yemen were severely limited to 76 strikes with about 100 missiles.

Sky News Arabia reported that America had briefed the Houthis before the strikes to prevent a "greater escalation of the war", meaning the whole circus was staged just to show some muscle to the world.

From here, the Houthis have already carried out a complete evacuation of the bases for several days, and most likely they have hidden all the equipment in their mountainous regions.

The strikes were mainly on observation posts and an empty military base, which the Houthis joke that only Saudi Arabia has announced since 2015 that it has destroyed it 3 times. However, 11 members of the movement died from those bombings.

The US cannot afford a major regional war in any case, because in that case it is clear to everyone that Israel will be gone. After all, many analysts in the West also stated that.

The Houthis have threatened to strike the oil platforms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which will cause a huge jump in the price of oil and a major economic crisis in Europe, which is very dependent on this oil.

On the other hand, all the Biden administration has managed to achieve is to completely close the Suez Canal as a route for commercial ships, not only to Israel but also those to Europe and the United States. Great economic damage.

Immediately after the US and UK launched the strikes, the Houthis hit back with ballistic missiles and US bases across Syria and Iraq were again attacked. Which shows that if the US enters a war in the Middle East in the name of Israel, it will bear great consequences. It will be a war on a grand scale.

What still keeps on Israel breathing is the fact that both sides (US and Iran) are avoiding a major conflict and regional war. The conflict is for now confined to the territory of Israel, which is suffering heavy military and economic damage, while taking out its fury on civilians in Gaza.

This whole show, in my opinion, was performed to divert all attention from the international court of justice where Israel is accused of the genocide it is committing in Gaza by South Africa.

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thedreadvampy · 1 month

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So, wow, ok, it doesn't grant them voting rights or a seat on the Security Council but the UN has successfully voted to move Palestine from an observer state to a member state, which means it can put forwards motions and join debates.

this is. fucking miraculous. as a sign that the US is wavering in its support of Israel.

Of course they're bitching about it and the US right are already trying to pull all funding from the UN (frankly I'm in favour of this if it was unilateral can we be honest cause if the US actually shot its load and withdrew from the UN maybe the UN could be something other than an arm of US control) but this has never been allowed to happen.

(threatening to pull funding is America's favourite pasttime when it comes to Israel, and is also the only reason Israel exists at all, because America threatened to pull funding and aid if there was a single-state solution in 1947)

As long as the US puts its full weight behind Israel, as it has for over 75 years, the popular movement for Palestine will not find any expression at an international state level. Nobody who is not already in America's bad books will intervene without support, and even those who are already disliked by the US, like Iran, are afraid to risk kicking off all out war with the US.

This is all true while America backs Israel.

But I think, or at least I hope, that it's becoming less and less tenable for them to put all their eggs in the Israel basket. They're being increasingly condemned and cold-shouldered from outside, and facing a popular uprising inside to a degree they haven't seen since the 60s which they're so far unable to quash through propaganda or violence. Popular support for Israel is collapsing fast.

Now to you or I - normal fucking guys - this is a moral issue first and foremost. People are being killed in their thousands and That's Bad. But governments don't believe in people, they believe in numbers - profit margins, approval ratings, debts, how many potential enemies vs how many potential allies.

A moral cost won't change things but an economic and political one will, and when the costs of supporting Israel outweigh the benefits, America will shuffle away from it and pretend they were against Israel all along.

If you believe, as I do, that Palestine will be free, then America still has time to do the thing it loves to do - come in blazing in defence of the underdog at the end of a genocide it sponsored and nurtured, claim the title of Great Liberator, and rely on everyone remembering that more than they remember the preceding decades.

the downside there is that the US has rarely been SO publicly, loudly in support of a second party state as it is with Israel. it has LOUDLY invested a lot - money, time, political capital - into Israel and the Zionist cause for over 100 years, and it's devoted a huge amount of its internal propaganda machine to a) the Goodness of Israel and b) the Arab world being the ultimate evil. I don't know if they can pull off the America Classic here. I don't know if anyone's buying it.

as well, the global incentives that made the US back the formation of Israel are still there - which is to say, there's a lot of Middle Eastern states with a lot of (reasonable) beef against the US, and Israel presents a powerful barrier to Arab unity. Could they transfer that power over to Saudi Arabia? Maybe, but that's still Arab. I think they're very afraid of losing a foothold in the Middle East. But also they're building hostility there again by continuing to support Israel, so they might be better advised to jump ship while they still can.

(the other fear I guess is that if they pull out and Israel survives and completes its genocide, they will also have lost the foothold, and will have burned all their bridges on both sides)

like my hope is that at this point the US state's relationship with Israel is a game of chicken and I hope they're coming towards a point where the internal division, the international condemnation, the rebellion of the UN, and the weakening of the Israeli state make it more threatening to US interests to stay allied to Israel than to withdraw.

And the US is the linchpin. The only thing allowing Israel to act with impunity is that the US is standing behind it holding a big stick.

When the US caves on Israel - and it will, sooner or later - the world will scramble to follow. So we have to keep making support for Israel politically inconvenient. Keep fighting US support for the occupation because the movement isn't visible much of the time but Palestine becoming a member state of the UN without US sanctions is a jolt of movement. It shows we're moving this huge thing off course, and we can't let up - the more it moves, the easier it will become to move.

#red said #Palestine #free Palestine

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girlactionfigure · 2 months

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🔅After Shabbat - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

Moadim l’Simcha - Happy Chol HaMoed Passover

🔻ATTACK on Shabbat - ROCKETS - from Hezbollah / Lebanon - at Shomera

🔻ATTACK on Shabbat - DRONES - from Hezbollah / Lebanon - at Beit Hillel, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Metulla, Manara, Ma'ayan Baruch, Margaliot, Misgav Am, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Dishon, Iftach, Malkia, Mevuot Hermon Regional Council, Ramot Naftali

🔻ATTACK on Shabbat - ROCKETS - from Hezbollah / Lebanon - at Manara, Margaliot, Kiryat Shmona x 2 rounds

❗️NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER BEN GVIR.. in a serious car accident before Shabbat, his driver ran a red light (with siren on) - the car was t-boned and flipped as an oncoming car in the opposing right lane couldn’t see them after the car in the left lane stopped. The minister, diagnosed with multiple rib fractures, was transferred from Asaf HaRofeh hospital to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

❗️HAMAS RELEASES ANOTHER HOSTAGE PROPAGANDA VIDEO.. of hostages Keith Siegel and Amri Midan. (( We wonder if anyone will take this WAR CRIME, using prisoners as propaganda, to the International Court of Justice. Oh who am I kidding. ))

❗️US DEPLOYS AIR WING TO SAUDI ARABIA.. A large number of F-16Cs of the US Air Force's 510th Fighter Squadron have been deployed to Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia.

▪️IDF.. two paratrooper battalions, 101 and 890, rotated out of Gaza and into training for Rafah attack.

▪️GAZA.. Friday night extensive IDF airstrikes in Nusirat - the Air Force bombed terrorist targets in the north of Nusairat and al-Zawaida, residential buildings in al-Mugraqa were destroyed that were used by Hamas terrorists for activities against our forces, plus targeted airstrikes in west Rafah and south Khan Yunus.

On Shabbat morning, IDF naval bombardment into the Gaza City shoreline.

▪️JUDEA-SAMARIA.. Friday night, raid on Ibad, Jenin area. Enemy fire at the Jenin Salem checkpoint, two terrorists eliminated in the firefight. On Shabbat day, forces raided the Palestinian village of Kfar Ein, northwest of Ramallah.

▪️LEBANON.. IDF forces attacked a number of targets in a number of different locations in southern Lebanon, including the village of Markaba, the town of Khula, Yatar, and Sarabin.

▪️IRAQ.. The pro-Iranian militias in Iraq claimed last night that they attacked a "vital target" in Haifa with a suicide drone. No such event recorded in Israel.

🟡 CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS.. Israel submitted its proposal via the Egyptian mediators, Hamas “will consider it”.

.. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: thinks there is new momentum in the talks on the release of the abductees

.. Opposition leader Yair Lapid in an interview on News 12: "If the choice is the cessation of fighting in Gaza or a hostage deal, we should go for a deal.”

.. A senior security official to the Wall Street Journal: "The way to end the conflict with Hezbollah is to escalate it. Israel cannot stop now - it is dangerous for the entire region.”

▪️AID.. recent video from Gaza shows Gaza’s complaining about receiving Skittles that have expired (as of Feb). (( This is hunger? ))

.. Reuters, for the first time since the death of seven workers of the aid organization World Central Kitchen - a humanitarian aid ship left the coast of Cyprus towards Gaza. (( Propaganda, not effectiveness. One of these ships is about 3 trucks of aid. ))

▪️HOUTHIS.. The spokesman for the military wing of the Houthis claims that they attacked a British oil tanker with missiles, and that yesterday they shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone. US Central Command: The Houthis launched three anti-ship missiles from Yemen into the Red Sea and caused minor damage to the British ship MV Andromeda Star; a missile landed near another undamaged vessel.

#Israel #October 7 #Hamas Massacre #Gaza #Israel/HamasWar #Real Time Updates

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mapsontheweb · 2 years

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The Persian Gulf forms the center of this photograph taken by an astronaut from the International Space Station (ISS). The nighttime lights mark the larger cities and highways of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The brightest lights are concentrated along the southern and western coastlines, where the major cities of Kuwait City, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai stand out. Several smaller port cities line the northern coast at the foot of the Zagros Mountains.

The lights speckled across the dark waters of the Gulf indicate ships passing through one of the world’s major trade routes. The narrowest section is the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. The Strait varies in width between 39 and 96 kilometers (21 to 90 nautical miles) and represents an important chokepoint in the global trade network that funnels millions of barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day through the region.

This photograph provides an excellent example of the wide field of view that crew members have from their perch on the ISS. Tehran, the capital of Iran, is visible near the Earth limb and stands approximately 1200 kilometers (750 miles) from Dubai.

Astronaut photograph ISS063-E-81262 was acquired on August 31, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a 28 millimeter lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 63 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Laura Phoebus, Jacobs, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

#maps #persian gulf #satellite images

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 5 months

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 11, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 12, 2024

“Today, at my direction,” President Joe Biden said this evening, “U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”

The strikes came after the Iran-backed Houthi militia launched 27 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, including merchant shipping vessels that carry about 12% of the world’s oil, 8% of its grain, and 8% of liquefied natural gas, as well as other commodities.

While the Houthis claim their attacks are designed to support the Palestinians in Gaza, they are also apparently angling to continue and spread the Hamas-Israel war into a wider conflict. Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah, all nonstate actors backed by Iran, would like very much to extend and enlarge the war to enhance their own power and win adherents to their ideologies.

The Arab states do not want the conflict to spread. Neither does the U.S. government, and Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have worked hard to make sure it doesn’t, sending two carrier groups to the region, for example, to deter enthusiasm for such an extension.

On October 19, shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Houthis launched cruise missiles and drones designed by Iran at Israel, but when the USS Carney and Saudi Arabia shot the weapons down, they turned to attacking shipping. Fifty or so ships use the Red Sea waterway every day.

On November 19, Houthis seized a Japanese-registered vessel, the Galaxy Leader, along with its 25-member international crew, prompting the United Nations Security Council to condemn “in the strongest terms” the “recent Houthi attacks” and “demanded that all such attacks and action cease immediately.” The Security Council “underlined the importance of…international law.”

On December 3, Houthis struck another three ships.

On December 19, the U.S., the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and a group representing 44 allies and partner nations condemned the Houthi attacks, noting that such attacks threatened international commerce, endangering supply chains and affecting the global economy. Also on December 19, the U.S. and partners announced a naval protection group for maritime shipping in the waterway, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian.

When the attacks continued, the governments of the U.S., Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom warned the Houthis on January 3, 2024, that their attacks were “illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing,” delaying the delivery of goods and “jeopardizing the movement of critical food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance throughout the world.” They called for an end to the attacks and the release of the detained vessels and crew members, and they warned that the Houthis would bear responsibility for the “consequences” if the attacks continued.

“We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,” the statement said.

Administration officials told the press the U.S. would strike the Houthis militarily if the attacks didn’t stop, although Biden has not wanted to destabilize Yemen further than it already is after a decade of civil war. “The president has made clear the U.S. does not seek conflict with any nation or actor in the Middle East,” John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said. “But neither will we shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests, our partners or the free flow of international commerce.” An administration official said: “I would not anticipate another warning.”

On Tuesday, January 9, the Houthis launched 21 drones and missiles in the most significant attack yet—one that directly targeted U.S. ships—and on January 10 the U.N. Security Council passed UNSCR 2722, a resolution condemning the attacks “in the strongest terms.” Eleven members voted in favor and none opposed it. Four countries—China, Russia, Algeria, and Mozambique—abstained, but neither China nor Russia, both of which have veto power, would veto the resolution.

Today the U.S. and the U.K., with coalition support, responded. Military strikes came from the air, ocean, and underwater, according to a defense official, and they hit weapons storage areas and sites from which the Houthis have been launching drones and cruise missiles.

The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the U.K, and the U.S. announced the “precision strikes,” saying they were “in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense, consistent with the UN Charter” and “were intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of international mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”

“Our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea,” the statement read, “but let our message be clear: we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats.” Biden’s statement sounded much the same but added: “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

As the January 3 statement from the governments of the U.S., Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the U.K. made clear, one of the key things at stake in standing against the Houthi attacks is the international rules-based order, that is, the system of international laws and organizations developed after World War II to prevent global conflicts by providing forums to resolve differences peacefully. A key element of this international system of agreements is freedom of the seas.

Also central to that rules-based international order is partnerships and allies. Two days ago, one of Europe’s leading politicians revealed that in 2020, former president Trump told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen: “You need to understand that if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” According to the politician, Trump added that “NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,” a threat he has made elsewhere, too.

In contrast, as soon as he took office, President Biden set out to support and extend U.S. alliances and partnerships. While that principle shows in the international support for today’s strike on the Houthis, it has also been central in the administration’s response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, managing migration, supporting African development, building the Indo-Pacific, and reacting to the Middle East crisis in general.

Today, Secretary of State Blinken finished a week-long trip to Türkiye, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Bahrain, and Egypt, where he met with leaders and reaffirmed “the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for peace in the Middle East, which includes comprehensive, tangible steps toward the realization of a future Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, with both living in peace and security.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#NATO #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #alliances #diplomacy #the middle east #political

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naturalrights-retard · 5 months

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The Suez Canal, a crucial waterway for global trade, has become the stage for a risky geopolitical move as the US and Britain intervene militarily in Yemen. Goat herders in sandals need to know their place, after all. Afghanistan is already a distant memory. A memory no neocon wishes to acknowledge. Humiliation only comes with acknowledgement. Failure to acknowledge, therefore, is simply preferable.

Already, the outcome is far from triumphant, as a US ship is sunk in the process. Only days in and the glaring fragility of the globalists’ military interventions are increasingly difficult to ignore. International relations will automatically take on a different timbre.

The Red Sea

When I first began writing this piece on the goings on in the Red Sea I found myself waking to find more incredible things taking place. Cascading from one crisis to yet another.

You will by now know that the Houthis in Yemen began threatening and then bombing any container ships supplying Israel. Their position being that they’ll stop when the genocide in Gaza ends. Notably Chinese and Russian ships have free passage. The US, under Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, then attempted to form a “coalition” serving Israel called ‘Guardians of Prosperity’ (do these guys watch too many Hollywood movies or what?) but was met with limited success. Despite visits to 39 countries, the initiative includes Britain, France, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the Seychelles and Bahrain — none of which you’ll notice have coastlines on the Red Sea.

In contrast, all the Red Sea littoral states, notably Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have all refused to be part of this alliance. Ouch!

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libertariantaoist · 6 months

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News Roundup 12/6/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 12/6/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has hit out at Americans who prefer a less interventionist foreign policy, smearing them as isolationists who want to see the US “retreat from responsibility.” AWC

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has scheduled a vote for Wednesday to advance President Biden’s massive $106 billion emergency spending request that includes military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as additional funding for the border, POLITICO reported. AWC

Adm. Christopher Grady: US Can Handle Middle East, Russia and China All at Once. YouTubeThe Institute

China

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called for tighter export controls on advanced technologies going to China and labeled Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had.” AWC

Russia

White House Will Run Out of Funds to Arm Ukraine By the End of the Year. FTAWC

US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt explained that Washington was plotting a decade-long economic war targeting Moscow. The US has maintained sanctions on Russia since the 2014 Washington-backed coup in Ukraine sparked Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the economic war on the Russian economy was significantly intensified. The Institute

Bulgarian President Blocks Weapons Transfer to Ukraine. Newsweek

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is turning Ukraine into an authoritarian state as public criticism of Ukrainian leadership is becoming more common. AWC

Zelensky Cancels Address to US Senate. Forbes

Israel

Biden Admin Says US Intel Had No Knowledge of Hamas Battle Plans for October 7. Axios

The UK announced on Saturday that it would begin surveillance flights in the skies above Gaza in search of captives held by Hamas. Over the past month, the US has conducted drone operations seeking hostages. Both Washington and London have engaged in a military buildup in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of Tel Aviv. The Institute

UN Warns Israel Against Exacerbating the Already Catastrophic Humanitarian Situation in Gaza. VOA

Israel Hayom reported last week that some members of Congress have reviewed a plan to condition US aid to Arab countries on their willingness to accept refugees from Gaza, which would facilitate the Israeli goal of cleansing the territory of Palestinians. AWC

Israel intensified airstrikes in southern Gaza on Monday and bombed areas where it told Palestinians to seek shelter, Reuters reported. AWC

Amnesty International: “US-made Weapons Facilitated the Mass Killings of Extended Families” in Gaza. Press ReleaseThe Institute

Polling continues to show that the majority of Americans favor a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, a position the Biden administration has rejected. AWC

The IDF Ignored Warnings Hours Before October 7 Hamas Attack. Haaretz

The House on Tuesday passed a resolution that says “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” the chamber’s latest piece of legislation conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. AWC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed on Tuesday that he wants Israel’s military to maintain an open-ended occupation of the Gaza Strip after the current war. AWC

Middle East

Officials Tell Politico that US Ships Under Threat in Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Politico

The US Approves Arms Sales to UAE and Saudi Arabia. MEE

US officials are considering forming a Red Sea task force with other nations after a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis against commercial shipping that’s come in response to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. AWC

#kyle anzalone #libertarian institute #news roundup

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 3 months

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Eight Countries, One Photo

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this highly oblique photograph of the Persian Gulf while in orbit over Saudi Arabia. The Gulf drains into the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz and forms part of the border for eight countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

The Persian Gulf occupies a large depression formed by a tectonic subduction zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The collision of these two tectonic plates also produced the Zagros Mountains in southern Iran, visible to the north-northwest of the Persian Gulf.

The image shows several cities concentrated along the coastline that serve as ports for goods moving in and out of the region. A significant amount of shipping within the Persian Gulf transports oil and petroleum products, with an average of 21 million barrels carried through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

The photo provides a unique wide-angle perspective of Earth as viewed by astronauts aboard the space station. The 28 millimeter focal length of the camera lens lends a perspective similar to that of the human eye, which has an average focal length of between 22 to 24 millimeters based on the physical refraction of light. In this view, the camera’s focal length and the astronaut’s framing of the image offer the feeling of peering out over the planet from an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers).

Astronaut photograph ISS069-E-92132 was acquired on September 26, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 28 millimeters. The image was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 69 crew. It has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Cadan Cummings, Jacobs, JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.

#science #space #nasa #news #earth observatory

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zvaigzdelasas · 5 months

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The US has asked China to urge Tehran to rein in Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, but has seen little sign of help from Beijing, according to American officials.

But US officials said there was little evidence China had put any pressure on Iran to restrain the Houthis, beyond a mild statement Beijing issued last week calling on “relevant parties” to ensure safe passage for vessels sailing through the Red Sea, a critical shipping route for global trade.

On Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing was calling for a stop to “disturbance to civilian ships” and had “been in close communication with various parties and worked actively to alleviate the tension in the Red Sea”.

However, in veiled [?] criticism of the US and UK attacks on the Houthis, the ministry urged the “relevant parties to avoid adding fuel to the fire”, adding that the UN Security Council had “never authorised the use of force by any country on Yemen”.

The Red Sea tension was also a “spillover” from the Gaza conflict, which should be ended as soon as possible, the ministry said.[...]

US officials had hoped Beijing would take action because it viewed the Houthi attacks as a menace to its own commercial interests, given that the Red Sea was a critical route for Chinese exports to Europe.[...]

The Chinese embassy in the US said [...] China was concerned about the “escalating tension” in the Red Sea. The embassy said it served the common interests of the international community and that China urged “relevant parties to play a constructive and responsible role in keeping the Red Sea safe and stable”.

23 Jan 24

Several Chinese shipping lines have been redeploying their vessels to serve the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, in what analysts have said is an effort to exploit China’s perceived immunity from the Houthi attacks that have driven most other operators out of the area.

These smaller Chinese lines have been serving ports such as Doraleh in Djibouti, Hodeidah [sic] in [Ansar-Controlled] Yemen and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, all of which have faced big falls in traffic as international container shipping lines have rerouted to avoid potential attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Among the shipping lines redeploying its fleet is Qingdao-based Transfar Shipping, which on its website describes itself as “an emerging player in the transpacific market”[...]

Leaders of the group have said that they will not attack vessels associated with China or Russia[...] as long as they have no Israeli links. The US has asked China to urge Iran to rein in the Houthis, without apparent success.

24 Jan 24

#'hodeidah....has faced big falls in traffic [in response to] attacks by the houthis' is so funny #hodeidah's one of the main cities the anglos are bombing #its one of the biggest ports in Yemen #its one of ansars main economic centers #lol never change ft #just assume everyone reading this goes 'ah foreign name *nodding sagely*'

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mariacallous · 6 months

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Yemen’s Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis—poses a threat to commercial shipping in the Red Sea. From mid-November through mid-December, the group attacked at least 30 merchant ships in the area, prompting most of the world’s major shippers to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. The economic effects of these attacks have yet to be fully realized, but already insurances rates for shipping lines have doubled. Not only that, but circumnavigating Africa requires more time, fuel, and ships than routes through the Suez Canal, resulting in stretched supply chains and increased environmental damage.

Freedom of navigation is a core global interest of the United States. So how is it that the Houthis are getting away with rendering the Red Sea a no-go zone for all but a few shipping lines? It’s ostensibly stunning that the Biden administration has allowed this happen—but in many ways it’s not surprising at all. The hesitance results from the role Yemen now plays in the politics of U.S. foreign policy and prevailing fears the war in Gaza will become a regional conflict—but also from the longer-term trend of Washington having overlearned foreign-policy lessons of the recent past.

The civil war in Yemen is not well understood in Washington but has nevertheless been the subject of vehement debate inside the Beltway. Although Yemen’s civil war between the government and the insurgent Houthis began in 2014 and the Saudis intervened a year later on the side of the Yemeni government, it was not until October 2018 that most members of Congress, pundits of all stripes, journalists, and foreign-policy analysts bothered to pay attention to the nasty conflict underway in one of the Middle East’s poorest countries. It was that month when agents acting on the apparent orders of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince murdered Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post’s opinion page. The hit happened against the backdrop of then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s confrontation with elites, assault on American political institutions, and close ties with a variety of global authoritarians, chief among them the Saudi royal family. As a result, the twin outrages over Khashoggi’s slaying and Trump’s offensive to undermine the norms and principles of U.S. democracy became superimposed on the conflict in Yemen.

Lost in the simplistic anti-Saudi narratives that followed were the fact that the Houthis, who fight under the slogan “God is Great; death to America; death to Israel; damn the Jews; victory for Islam” are not the world’s nicest group of people. They overthrew an internationally recognized government; violate human rights; use child soldiers; and have imposed their version of “Fiver” Shi’a Islam on the Yemeni population, persecuting those who resist. During the height of the civil war, the group also contributed to Yemen’s humanitarian disaster by blocking ports through which international aid was intended to flow, became fully aligned with Iran, and fired missiles and drones on Saudi and Emirati population centers with the sole intention of terrorizing civilians.

Through it all, however, progressives in Congress and a variety of activists tended either to overlook or minimize Houthi responsibility for Yemen’s tribulations. Instead they agitated against American support for the Saudis and Emiratis, which became identified with Trump, his administration, his son-in-law, “maximum pressure” on Iran, and accommodation of Israel. Of course, the Saudi and Emirati governments have much to answer for their interventions, but among some in Washington there was a willful effort to give the Houthis a pass for their part in the destruction of Yemen. That is because the group’s anti-Americanism, hostility to human rights, and own atrocities did not fit the preferred political narrative about Yemen, which had less to do with what was happening in that country than the political battles happening in Washington. It was a dynamic that carried over into the Biden administration and its early decision to reverse Trump’s designation of Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization. For U.S. President Joe Biden to order strikes on the Houthis now—in what would surely be interpreted as an act of war in support of Israel—runs counter to much of what a growing constituency of the Democratic Party believes about Yemen.

Of course, not everything is narrative. The Biden administration is concerned that if it were to act against the Houthis, it would be widening the war in Gaza, a development it has otherwise worked hard to prevent. As a result, it has put the U.S. Navy in the area in a defensive posture. American forces will shoot down Houthi drones and missiles aimed at commercial shipping and by extension the global economy, but will not destroy Ansar Allah’s ability to harass shipping. The recent announcement of Operation Prosperity Guardian—a multilateral effort to protect commercial shipping—is a manifestation of this reactive policy.

The White House’s approach makes sense, but only in a limited way. If the president and his team are worried about the conflict expanding regionally, there must be pages missing from their briefing books. The Houthis (like Hezbollah in Lebanon) have already widened the conflict by targeting shipping in the Red Sea. The Biden administration also seems to misapprehend why the events in the Red Sea are happening. If it had a better understanding of the situation, it would know that a naval task force—no matter how formidable—will not by itself ward off attacks.

It was not unheard of for the Houthis to target shipping before the conflict in Gaza, but it seems that the Iranians encouraged them to incrementally escalate now in order to disrupt the global economy, which would put pressure on the United States and other major powers to rein in Israelis as it pummels Gaza and weakens Hamas. If Israel can actually incapacitate Hamas, it would be a significant strategic blow to Tehran, which is why the Israelis will resist at all costs international pressure to bring Israel’s military offensive to an end—which is why the Houthis will not stop attacking shipping.

As a result, if the United States wants to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and its environs, it is going to have to take the fight directly to the Houthis. There is precedent for this. Everyone remembers that in 1987, the United States agreed to reflag Kuwaiti tankers and provided U.S. naval escorts for those tankers after they came under near-constant harassment from Iranian forces in the region. What many forget is that, in parallel, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered several military operations to destroy Iran’s ability to disrupt freedom of navigation in the Gulf.

One can understand why Biden has been reluctant to take a similar step so far. The president has the responsibility to use the United States’ awesome force judiciously. But to compel actors not to act—to deter them—sometimes requires a country to not just brandish its military forces but actually use them. Critics will no doubt argue that this prescription risks ensnaring the United States in yet another open-ended conflict in the Middle East. Fair point, though the search for a risk-free policy is as close to a unicorn as one can get in foreign policy. Besides, disrupting or destroying the Houthis’ ability to disrupt shipping is hardly akin to the overambitious policies of the past aimed at regime change and remaking of societies. Rather, it’s a move to protect a vital national interest.

Many in the American foreign policy community seem to have overlearned the lessons of the recent past. Either that or their analysis begins and ends with the idea that the United States is the problem in the Middle East. The fact remains that, as difficult as the last three decades have been for Washington there, the United States still has interests in the region and freedom of navigation is one of them. To be self-deterred in this instance is to be self-defeating.

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wonderstravelandtourism · 11 days

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Unveiling Aqaba: Jordan's Coastal Gem

While Jordan is renowned for its captivating desert landscapes and ancient wonders, it also boasts a beautiful coastline. Nestled along the northern tip of the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba lies Aqaba, Jordan's sole coastal town. This vibrant destination beckons travelers seeking sun-drenched beaches, thriving marine life, and a unique cultural tapestry.

Aqaba's Allure

Aqaba's charm lies in its multifaceted appeal. Crystal-clear waters teeming with colorful coral reefs make it a paradise for snorkeling and scuba diving enthusiasts. History buffs will be enthralled by the town's rich past, evident in landmarks like the Aqaba Fort and the Aqaba Archaeological Museum.

Unforgettable Day Trips from Aqaba Town

Aqaba's strategic location makes it an ideal base for exploring Jordan's iconic attractions. The majestic ancient city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is within easy reach. For a taste of the desert's raw beauty, a day trip to Wadi Rum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its dramatic sandstone cliffs and vast expanses of red sand, is a must.

Effortless Access

Reaching Aqaba is a breeze. King Hussein International Airport (AQJ) welcomes flights from various domestic and international destinations. The town is well-connected by road to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the capital city, Amman. For those seeking a maritime adventure, cruise ships and ferries from nearby ports in Egypt and Saudi Arabia offer an alternative arrival option.

Unwinding on the Shores

Aqaba offers a variety of beaches catering to diverse preferences. Public beaches like City Beach boast convenient locations and free entry, while South Beach offers a more secluded atmosphere with opportunities for exploring coral reefs.

For those seeking a touch of luxury, private beaches near the Saudi Arabian border provide pristine waters, abundant marine life for snorkeling and diving, and dedicated swimming pools. Options include Berenice Beach Club, Tala Bay Beach Club, and Royal Diving Beach Club.

Planning Your Aqaba Escape

The prime time to visit Aqaba is between October and April, when temperatures hover comfortably in the 60s and 70s Fahrenheit, perfect for enjoying outdoor activities. The high season falls between December and June, with June and March experiencing the most crowds.

Accommodation Options

Aqaba offers a range of hotels to suit every budget. Budget-conscious travelers can opt for hostels like the centrally located Alamer 2 Beach Hostel or the Aqaba Roza near the city center.

For a touch more luxury, the Oryx Hotel Aqaba boasts a convenient downtown location, a gym, steam room, hot tubs, and massage services. The Kempinski Hotel Aqaba offers an unforgettable experience with its stunning views of the Red Sea, water sports options, private balconies, spa, and saunas.

Start Planning Your Aqaba Adventure Today!

Ready to discover the magic of Aqaba? Let Wonders Travel and Tourism craft your dream itinerary. From booking your flights and accommodation to arranging day trips and activities, our expert team will ensure a seamless and unforgettable Aqaba experience. Contact us today to start planning your adventure!

#aqaba town #aqaba #travel

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