AFP Asia Business

President Donald Trump predicted on Friday that Iran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action, despite Tehran warning that its arsenal of missiles would never be up for discussion.”I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programs, Trump said “yeah, I have,” but refused to say what it was.”We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now,” Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran.”Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.”Trump cited what he said was Iran’s decision to halt the executions of protesters — after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed — as evidence to show Tehran was ready to negotiate.- ‘Doing the right thing’ -Washington’s allies in the region are concerned that any US strike on Iran could cause instability and economic chaos.One senior Gulf official in touch with the Trump administration said that the United States was closely guarded on what it has planned.”We hope that whatever happens, it is going to lead to stability. That outcome could be reached by the Iranians doing the right thing, and we hope that happens,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Meanwhile, the head of Iran’s top security body — secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani — met Tehran’s ally Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.No details of their talks emerged, but Moscow has offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran.Iran’s top diplomat said Friday that his country’s missile and defense capabilities would “never” be on the negotiating table.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was “ready to begin negotiations if they take place on an equal footing.”But, he emphasized, “Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation,” adding there were no plans to meet with US officials on resuming talks.US news site Axios reported this week that Washington officials say any deal would have to include a cap on Iran’s arsenal of long-range missiles, the removal of enriched uranium from the country and a ban on independent enrichment. Serhan Afacan, director of IRAM, the Ankara-based Centre for Iranian Studies, told AFP that trying to link a nuclear deal with other issues would likely “be impossible.” “For now, the ballistic missile program remains a red line, as it sits at the core of Iran’s defense architecture,” he said. – ‘Reducing’ tensions -Iran has warned that it would respond instantly with missile strikes against US bases, ships and allies, notably Israel.”We are not limiting the geography of confrontation to the sea alone and have prepared ourselves for broader and more advanced scenarios,” the head of Iran’s Defence Council, Ali Shamkhani, said Friday, according to the Tasnim news agency.Speaking at a joint news conference in Istanbul with Araghchi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israel was pushing for the United States to attack Iran, and urged Washington to “not allow this to happen.”Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for the protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances and peaked on January 8 and 9, accusing the two countries of fueling a “terrorist operation” that turned peaceful demonstrations into “riots.”The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,563 people killed in the demonstrations, including 6,170 protesters and 124 children, as internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to hinder access to information inside the country. But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands. Iranian authorities give a toll of more than 3,000 deaths in the protests, but say the majority were members of security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters.” burs-sw/dc/bgs/abs/acb

Syria’s government and Kurdish forces reached a comprehensive deal on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state, a step Washington described as a “historic milestone”.In recent weeks, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have ceded vast areas of Arab-majority land to government forces.It was territory they held for years, having seized it in fierce battles against the Islamic State jihadist group during a campaign backed by a US-led coalition.The new deal, the text of which was released by both sides, “seeks to unify Syrian territory and achieve the full integration” of the Kurdish-majority region.It maintains an ongoing ceasefire and introduces a “gradual integration” of the Kurdish forces and administrative institutions.Speaking to Kurdish television, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi said the deal would be implemented on the ground from February 2 and that both sides would pull forces back from frontline positions in the town of Kobane and the al-Jazeera area in the north east of the country. “A limited internal security force will enter the security districts in Hasakeh and Qamishli to implement the integration agreement in practice,” he said. “No military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town.”The SDF was a key partner of Washington in the anti-IS campaign, but since the toppling of Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, the United States has drawn close to the new authorities in Damascus.The US has recently declared the need for its Kurdish alliance largely over, and has sought to mediate talks between the government and the Kurds. The new agreement, announced by both the SDF and Syrian state television, follows an understanding reached earlier this month on the future of the majority-Kurdish areas of Hasakeh province and Kobane.It appears to include at least some of the Kurds’ demands, like the establishment of brigades of SDF fighters in Kurdish-majority areas.Damascus had previously rejected the idea of ethnically based military units.In a video conference Friday, Kurdish politician and key negotiator Elham Ahmad said the new deal enforces a “permanent ceasefire”.She added that the US and France were the guarantors of the deal, but talks were ongoing over the details of the integration process.Raman Sido, a resident of the Kurdish city of Qamishli, said the deal’s main benefit was that it would “defuse the Kurdish-Arab tension and eliminate the looming spectre of conflict”.But he warned that it still lacked clarity on implementation and the system of administration.- Government control -During Syria’s civil war, the Kurds were able to carve out a de facto autonomous region that expanded as they advanced against IS.While Kurdish forces had tried to protect their gains, Syria’s new Islamist authorities want to extend state control across the country.Talks between the two began swiftly after Assad was forced out, but progress stalled and there were repeated bouts of violence, culminating in the recent army offensive.Syria’s state media quoted a government source as saying that according to the new deal, “the state will assume control over all civilian and governmental institutions, as well as (border) crossings”.”No part of the country will remain outside its control,” the source added. For years, Kurdish forces have controlled long stretches of the border with Turkey to the north and Iraq to the east. With several crossings closed, most traffic passed through one main gateway with Iraqi Kurdistan.The deal lays out the integration of three SDF brigades into the Syrian army in the Kurdish-majority areas of Hasakeh.Another brigade will be created for the pocket of Kobane — once a symbol of Kurdish fighters’ victory against IS — which is around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Hasakeh.The deal also involves the integration of administrative institutions into those of the Syrian state and the retention of existing employees.- ‘Vague on core questions’ -Lars Hauch, an expert on Syria at Conflict Mediation Solutions, told AFP that the deal “suggests that remnants of the SDF will continue to exist for the time being, but the text remains vague on core questions of administrative and security decentralisation”.  “Rather than a done deal, this looks more like an advanced memorandum of understanding, whose sequencing and specifics will need to be negotiated in what has been a largely performative process in the past.” US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on X that the deal was a “historic milestone” that “reflects a shared commitment to inclusion, mutual respect, and the collective dignity of all Syrian communities”.But Ahmad, the Kurdish politician, said Washington had “played a negative role” by deeming the SDF’s mission against IS to be over, adding she hoped the US would “play a fair role for everyone in Syria”.French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the deal and said France supported its full implementation.But some Kurds remained wary.Shop owner Abu Ali, 40, who withheld his full name, told AFP “we don’t trust this government”, pointing to massacres blamed on government forces against other minorities last year.”Look at what they did in Sweida, and the coast,” he said.

President Donald Trump predicted on Friday that Iran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action, despite Tehran warning that its arsenal of missiles would never be up for discussion.”I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programs, Trump said “yeah, I have”, but refused to say what it was.”We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now,” Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran. “Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.”Trump cited what he said was Iran’s decision to halt the executions of protesters — after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed and which triggered the latest round of threats between the long-time foes — as evidence to show Tehran was ready to negotiate.The US president brought the temperature down late on Thursday, saying he hoped to avoid military action and that talks with Iran were on the cards, having pressured Tehran for a deal on its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb. Nevertheless, Iran’s top diplomat said Friday that his country’s missile and defence capabilities would “never” be on the negotiating table.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was “ready to begin negotiations if they take place on an equal footing, based on mutual interests and mutual respect”, during a visit to Turkey, which is leading a diplomatic push to mediate between Tehran and Washington. But, he emphasized, “I want to state firmly that Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation”, adding that no plans were in place to meet with US officials about resuming talks.  On Monday, the news site Axios reported that US officials say any deal would have to include a cap on Iran’s arsenal of long-range missiles, the removal of enriched uranium from the country and a ban on independent enrichment. Serhan Afacan, director of IRAM, the Ankara-based Centre for Iranian Studies, told AFP that trying to link a nuclear deal with other issues would likely “be impossible”. “For now, the ballistic missile programme remains a red line, as it sits at the core of Iran’s defence architecture,” he said. – ‘Reducing’ tensions -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said restarting talks between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme was “vital for reducing regional tensions”. Speaking at a joint news conference in Istanbul with Araghchi, he said Israel was pushing for the United States to attack Iran, and urged Washington to “act with common sense and not allow this to happen”. Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for the protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances and peaked on January 8 and 9, accusing the two countries of fuelling a “terrorist operation” that turned peaceful demonstrations into “riots”. Araghchi was also due to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian by phone earlier Friday that Turkey was “ready to assume a facilitating role between Iran and the United States to de-escalate the tensions”. Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said the success of diplomacy depended on the “goodwill of the parties involved and the abandonment of belligerent and threatening actions in the region”, his office said.As well as his diplomatic efforts to stave off a confrontation, Erdogan has also been pushing Washington for a high-level trilateral meeting, a Turkish diplomat said, confirming local media reports.- ‘Consequences’ -Other regional actors have joined calls for diplomacy, including Gulf states, some of which host US military sites, and Tehran’s ally Russia. Pezeshkian urged coordinated regional efforts to reduce tensions in a call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, saying Iran has “never sought war” but any aggression against it would “receive an immediate and firm response”. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,479 people killed in the demonstrations, including 6,092 protesters and 118 children, as internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to hinder access to information inside the country. But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands. Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of more than 3,000 deaths, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters”. burs-sw/dc/amj

President Donald Trump said Thursday he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal to avoid military action, adding that the US “armada” near Iran was bigger than the one he dispatched to topple Venezuela’s leader.”We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela,” the Republican president told reporters in the Oval Office.”Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.”Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and other issues, Trump said “yeah I have” but added that “only they know for sure” what it was.Trump, however, cited what he said was Iran’s decision to halt executions of protesters — after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed — as evidence to show Tehran was ready to comply.”I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump said.Trump declined to say whether, if Iran did not reach a deal, he planned a repeat of the dramatic operation in Venezuela in which US forces captured president Nicolas Maduro.”I don’t want to talk about anything having to do with what I’m doing militarily,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Iran over its crackdown on protesters, while still for now appearing to leave the door open for negotiations over the Islamic republic’s controversial nuclear programme.But should Trump, after weeks of American threats and counter-threats from Tehran, finally decide to order military action after already sending a US aircraft carrier to the region, he faces another dilemma over what form the intervention should take.Such action could replicate American strikes during Israel’s June war against the Islamic republic, enforce economic strangulation by targeting the energy sector or amount to a bid to replace the theocratic system under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.- Venezuela economic pressure scenarioTrump’s relatively cautious stance so far has sparked speculation he could target Iranian energy infrastructure and squeeze its oil exports, mimicking a strategy Washington used over Venezuela.This policy earlier this month led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with Trump then working with the remnants of his former administration.The US naval group in Middle East waters could look to block “dark fleet vessels” carrying Iranian oil and put pressure on Iran’s oil exports, said Farzan Sabet, managing researcher of the Sanctions and Sustainable Peace Hub at the Geneva Graduate Institute.”And that pressure can be gradual, similar to what we saw in Venezuela. It could play out over days, weeks, months, it’s hard to foresee, but possibly longer,” he said, while acknowledging that Trump was playing “his cards very close to his chest”.The naval group, repeatedly described as an “armada” by Trump, consists of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its more than 80 aircraft, as well as its escort of three destroyers, equipped with anti-missile capabilities and Tomahawk cruise missiles.- Strikes on military and IRGC targetsIf Trump decides on a course of military action, prime targets would be bases of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its youth militia, the Basij, which are accused by rights groups of taking a frontline role in the deadly crackdown on the protests that according to rights groups left thousands dead. Using Tomahawk missiles and combat aircraft, the United States could strike positions of the Basij and the IRGC forces, “particularly those forces that participated and continue to participate in targeting Iranian protesters”, said independent military researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis.She said US intelligence, helped by Israel’s Mossad spy agency, has “a clear picture” of those forces and their location nationwide. “Such a strike would serve as a direct warning to the Iranian regime,” she said.During its June war against Tehran, Israel showed its deep intelligence penetration of the Islamic republic by killing senior security officials including the IRGC’s chief and the armed forces chief of staff in targeted strikes based on location intelligence.In a “harsh but measured strike”, the United States could target “operations command and senior officers involved in mass killings carried out by the Iranian regime”, she said.- Massive strikes and regime change bid -Iran’s theocratic system has been in place since the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that ousted the largely pro-Western shah.Relations with the United States were cut in the wake of the hostage siege of the US embassy in Tehran that began that year and have remained severed ever since.Under Khomeini, the revolution survived the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Since Khamenei took over in 1989, he has managed to keep the system in place despite economic sanctions and repeated protests.As well as the so-called “armada”, Washington already has a heavy deployment of military resources in the region with dozens of aircraft deployed at the air bases of Al Udeid in Qatar and Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates.”The American objective is to destabilise the regime,” said David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum (AMEF) think-tank.”So there is really a strategy that will aim to paralyse it, to disrupt the chain of command” marked by the physical “elimination” of Khamenei, his close advisors and senior IRGC generals, he added.But he said: “The regime is still relatively solid and resilient, it will not be an easy task”, especially as “the Guards have anticipated this scenario”.Sabet said it would appear for now that Washington “would prefer something limited, where they can continue the process of weakening the system while minimising the Islamic republic’s desire — and to some extent its ability, but mostly its desire –- to carry out larger-scale retaliation”.

Hospitals are no longer places of safety as Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests impacts all aspects of life, rights groups say, with authorities arresting wounded protesters and even the medics who treat them.Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands of people and wounding more by directly firing on protests, often with birdshot that can leave metal pellets lodged in the body until hygienically extracted by a professional.But rights groups say authorities have raided hospitals searching for people with wounds that suggest they were involved in protests. At least five doctors have meanwhile been arrested for treating them, according to the World Health Organisation.Amnesty International said security forces had “arrested protesters receiving treatment in hospitals”, adding it had received information that medical staff in central Isfahan province had been ordered to notify authorities about patients with injuries from gunshots and shotgun pellets. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it “has documented cases in which security forces raided hospitals to identify and arrest protesters injured during demonstrations”.In apparent response to the charges, Iran’s health ministry this week urged those injured in the protests should “not worry” about going to hospital and not self-treat at home.According to the Tasnim news agency, Mohammad Raeeszadeh, head of the Medical Council of Iran said Friday that “only a very limited number” of medical personnel had been arrested over the protests, without indicating why they were held.”There are no reports of anyone being arrested for seeing patients or performing their professional duties,” he added.- ‘Raiding medical facilities’ -Sajad Rahimi, 36, from Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm, was badly wounded after security forces shot at him when he joined a protest in the southern province of Fars at the peak of the movement on January 9, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.But, fearing he could be shot dead by security forces in a “coup de grace”, he asked friends not to take him directly to hospital, said IHR, which has investigated this and several other cases and spoke to the man’s brother.Eventually, the family transferred him to hospital, but he died as a result of a deep wound caused by live ammunition and severe bleeding. “The doctor said that if he had arrived at the hospital just ten minutes earlier, he would probably have survived,” his brother told IHR.The group said it had reports of “security forces raiding certain medical facilities and informal shelters for the wounded in order to arrest medical staff and volunteer first responders”. The Hengaw rights group, also based in Norway, highlighted the case of Dr Ali Reza Golchni, a physician from the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, who it said had been arrested “for providing medical care to injured protesters”.- ‘Grave violations’ -World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned by multiple reports of health personnel and medical facilities in Iran being impacted by the recent insecurity, and prevented from delivering their essential services to people requiring care”.He said there were reports of “at least five doctors detained, while treating injured patients”.The World Medical Association (WMA) said it had received reports that security forces arrested injured protesters in both the Isfahan and the southwestern province of Chaharmahal-and-Bakhtiari.  “Hospital staff have also been instructed to report patients suffering gunfire injuries to security authorities, with non-compliance exposing them to prosecution and other reprisals,” it said, citing information received by the WMA.Hengaw also cited the case of Taher Malekshahi, a 12-year-old Kurdish-Iranian boy from Qorveh in western Iran who was severely injured after being shot in the face and eyes with pellet ammunition.It said he lost one eye and suffered serious damage to the other, publishing a picture of his face with the boy’s entire forehead pock-marked with pellet wounds.It said while he was currently receiving intensive medical treatment in Tehran, “authorities have pressured his family to falsely claim he was wounded by ‘terrorists’ in exchange for state recognition as a war-disabled victim.”

South Africa ordered Israel’s top diplomat to leave the country within 72 hours on Friday, citing a “series of violations” and prompting the Israeli government to expel Pretoria’s own diplomatic representative.Ties between the nations are already strained by South Africa’s case before the United Nations top court in 2023 to argue that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide. The South African foreign ministry said it had informed Israel that its charge d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, was “persona non grata” and “required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours”.”This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty,” it said.Breaches included “the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks” on President Cyril Ramaphosa, the statement said.The foreign ministry also accused the embassy of a “deliberate failure” to inform South Africa of visits by senior Israeli officials.The Israeli foreign ministry swiftly responded that South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Shaun Byneveldt, “is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours”.In a statement on X, it accused Pretoria of “false attacks against Israel in the international arena” and described Seidman’s expulsion as a “unilateral, baseless step”.Seidman was Israel’s most senior representative in South Africa after Tel Aviv recalled its ambassador in 2023.- ‘Abuse of privilege’ -South African officials were angered by a tweet from the Israeli embassy in November that commented: “A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa.”The post was in reaction to a news story citing Ramaphosa as saying “boycott politics doesn’t work”, in reference to US President Donald Trump’s decision to not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg.South African government officials also condemned as a breach of protocol a visit by an Israeli delegation this month to the Eastern Cape province where delegates reportedly offered to provide water, healthcare and agriculture expertise. The visit was hosted by a traditional king from the Xhosa people who had met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Israel in December.The South African foreign ministry said it had not been informed of the visit, which included senior Israeli diplomat David Saranga.It said diplomatic breaches by Israel “represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege”.”They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations,” it said.South Africa’s foreign affairs spokesman also hit back at Israel’s tit-for-tat expulsion of Byneveldt, saying he was “ambassador to the State of Palestine not Israel”.”Israel’s obstructionism forces a farcical arrangement where he is accredited through the very state that occupies his host country,” spokesman Chrispin Phiri said on X.- Genocide case -South Africa, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, is sharply critical of Israel and largely supportive of the Palestinian cause.The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023 saying that its war on Gaza — which followed the October 2023 attack on Israel by militants from the Palestinian group Hamas — breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.Israel has denied that accusation.When more than 150 Palestinians flew into South Africa in November without departure stamps from Israel on their passports, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said there appeared to be “a clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank”.There have been regular protests in South Africa against the Israeli government’s and military’s actions in Gaza, including calls for the embassy in Pretoria to be closed.South Africa’s ties with the Trump administration — a strong ally of Israel — have also deteriorated over the past year, with the case before the ICJ a major sticking point.

Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.”The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention”, Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defence in Tunis, recently told AFP.”Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.- Scared -Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.”Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.””I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.”Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers”.”We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.- Highly unstable -Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said al-Baji, who had established a religious centre there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanisation, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.