Tag Archives: Iran

The United States on Monday said it “strongly condemned” a Houthi drone attack that damaged a school in Saudi Arabia. The explosives-laden drone was launched across the border from Yemen and crashed into a school in Asir region, Saudi Civil Defense said on Sunday. “Such attacks threaten civilians, including school children,” the …

Five rockets Wednesday evening targeted Iraq’s Balad air base, with two of the projectiles falling near an area used by US contractors without causing casualties, a security official told AFP. “There were no victims or damage,” the official said. Balad air base, north of Baghdad, is used by US company …

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, resigned to the revival of a nuclear pact with Iran they always opposed, are engaging with Tehran to contain tensions while lobbying for future talks to take their security concerns into account. World powers have been negotiating in Vienna with Iran and the …

The refugee team for the Tokyo Olympics has 29 athletes competing in 12 sports. The team selected by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday was drawn from 55 athletes who fled their home countries and got scholarships to train for the games in a new home country. The 29 — …

U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will meet to discuss Syria, Afghanistan and other regional issues next week and will also look at the “significant differences” between Washington and Ankara, the U.S. national security advisor said on Monday. Speaking at a White House briefing, Jake Sullivan said …

Iraqi military said on Sunday that air defenses at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts u.s. Forces, intercept and shot down two drones. The military said in a statement the drones were intercepted and shot down at a round 12:30 a.m. local time. On May 8, an attack by …

The UN Security Council will meet this week to discuss a long-abandoned fuel tanker off Yemen amid growing fears of a catastrophic oil spill, diplomats said Wednesday. Thursday’s meeting, requested by Britain, comes after the Houthi militia said an agreement to allow a UN mission to inspect the tanker had …

A Yemeni model who was abducted and imprisoned by the Houthis said the militia sought to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her freedom, according to people who visited her in jail on Monday. Entesar Al-Hammadi and two colleagues were abducted by Houthis in Sanaa on Feb. 20. …

Polling stations opened on Wednesday across Syria in a presidential election that is set to usher Bashar al-Assad into a fourth term in office. The government says the election shows Syria is functioning normally despite a decade-old war, but the opposition and Western nations view it as merely rubber-stamping Assad’s …

The Houthis on Sunday threatened to mount more drone and missile strikes on “unexpected” locations in the Arab coalition countries in response to the latest US sanctions on the militia’s leaders. Mohammed Ali Al-Houthis, the president of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said his movement would escalate attacks on “aggressor …

A leader of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Sunday dismissed U.S. sanctions on military officials and threatened possible expanded attacks on “aggressor countries” after Washington urged the group to engage seriously in peace efforts. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Houthi military officials leading an offensive to …

Syrian authorities are working on extinguishing a fire that erupted in its main Homs refinery in the west of the nation, state media said on Sunday. The fire erupted in a distillation unit due to a leak in a pumping station, it said without elaborating. State television showed live footage …

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet said on Saturday that the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international water of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7. “The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands …

A Yemeni model who was abducted by the Houthis is going to be subjected to a virginity test, Amnesty International said on Friday. The rights group urged the militia to immediately halt its plans. “Yemen’s Houthi de facto authorities must immediately halt all plans to subject Entesar Al-Hammadi to forced …

An attack by an unmanned aerial surveillance system on Saturday targeted Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad air base in western Iraq which hosts US and other international forces, but it caused no injuries, a coalition spokesman said. US Army Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said on Twitter that the …

Syrian air defenses downed several Israeli missiles during pre-dawn raids on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, the Syrian army said on Wednesday, a rare attack on the ancestral home region of the Syrian leader and close to a Russian air base. A Syrian army statement said aerial strikes soon …

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said on Saturday Tehran expects U.S. sanctions on oil, banks and most individuals and institutions to be lifted based on agreements so far in Vienna talks, Iranian media reported, while Washington again played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough. Russia and Western European powers meanwhile …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and its ambassador to Washington on Thursday, and the Israeli officials expressed “deep concern” about Iran’s nuclear activities, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting in Washington followed talks this week between U.S. …

A team of U.S. envoys is traveling to the Middle East this week for talks with key allies, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, amid simmering concerns in the region about President Joe Biden’s attempt to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. “A senior interagency delegation will be traveling over …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday laid out his vision for the Kingdom’s foreign policy, with the US as a strategic partner and working with allies to find solutions to Iran’s “negative behavior.” In a 90-minute TV interview to mark the fifth anniversary of Vision 2030, the ambitious …

The Israeli army said Tuesday it shot down a drone that crossed into its airspace from Lebanon, and located another drone it had downed previously. “Troops downed a drone that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli airspace in the eastern part of the Blue Line,” an army statement said, referring to …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community to question the Houthi militia’s military assaults on Marib and the “tremendous humanitarian consequences” it has led to. Blinken’s statement, that he made on Tuesday via Twitter, came after he met with the US Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking. …

Yemeni government officials and local human rights activists have accused the Houthis of brainwashing and training primary school students for war. Their criticism came as videos on social media showed pupils wearing military attire and inciting each other to take up arms to fight the Houthis’ enemies. In one video, …

Britain’s special envoy for the Gulf Edward Lister is leaving his role and departing the government, a Downing Street spokesman said in an emailed statement late on Friday. Lister, a close aide of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was appointed as the special envoy for the Gulf only in February …

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday, Saudi Press Agency reported. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Greece, aspects of joint cooperation in various fields, and ways to support and develop it. They also …

Abducted Yemeni model Entesar Al-Hammadi has threatened to launch a hunger strike as the Houthis refuse to release her or allow local prosecutors to question her, the model’s lawyer told Arab News on Sunday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said that the Houthi-controlled Central Prison, where the model has been held since …

A senior Saudi official has denied direct talks have been held with Iran, four years after the two countries cut off diplomatic ties, contradicting a Financial Times report claiming discussions were ongoing between the two major regional players. The Financial Times report, citing unnamed sources said the first round of …

Four people were killed and 20 wounded in a car bomb attack on Thursday in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraqi police and medical workers said. The car was parked at a busy second-hand equipment market in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim district, police said. An Iraqi military statement said …

Iran-backed Houthis plan to launch a criminal investigation against Entesar Al-Hammadi, a young Yemeni model and actress, who was abducted from a Sanaa street on Feb. 20, the model’s lawyer Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said on Wednesday. The kidnapping of Al-Hammadi and two of her friends is the latest in a …

A drone dropped explosives near U.S. forces stationed at Erbil airport in northern Iraq late on Wednesday, Kurdish officials said, with no immediate reports of casualties. A separate rocket attack killed a Turkish soldier at a military base nearby, the Turkish defence ministry said. It was the first known attack …

Diplomats from major powers met separately on Wednesday with Iran and the United States to discuss how to bring both back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington abandoned three years ago. Neither the United States nor Iran expect fast breakthroughs in the talks that began in Vienna …

Representatives of Iran and world powers will meet next Tuesday in Vienna to discuss the troubled 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian and European officials said after holding virtual talks on Friday aimed at reviving the accord. Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain – all parties to the 2015 deal – …

Yemen’s President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has held meetings with the UN and US envoys to Yemen to discuss developments in the country and efforts to end the six-year war, with the Saudi initiative at the forefront. The new peace plan announced by the Kingdom last week includes a nationwide …

The US secretary of state called for a nationwide cease-fire in Yemen and a “durable peace agreement” during a phone call with the country’s prime minister on Thursday. “Secretary (Antony) Blinken welcomed the Republic of Yemen Government’s support for a comprehensive, nationwide cease-fire and UN-led political talks and its continued …

The Saudi-led coalition has cleared four fuel ships to dock at Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, two sources familiar with the matter said, after Yemen’s internationally recognised government said on Wednesday it had approved entry of some vessels. The move came after the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has been …

Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative on Monday to end the war in Yemen, including a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links, but its Houthi enemies said the offer did not appear to go far enough to lift a blockade. The initiative, announced by Saudi …

A quick skim through UK press headlines of the past week shows extensive coverage of such topics as the royal family’s fumbled response to Meghan Markle’s tell-all Oprah interview and Prince Phillip’s discharge from hospital. Competition for clicks and eyeballs was further provided by Prince Harry’s acceptance of damages from …

An air attack on an oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday caused a fire that was brought under control, the energy ministry said, after Yemen’s Houthi group said it targeted the site with six drones. The refinery is operated by state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco. The attack, …

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has responded to its removal from Washington’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by escalating its attacks on the governments in Aden and neighboring Saudi Arabia, Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Coalition, has told Arab News in an exclusive interview. The US State …

Dozens of Yemeni protesters stormed a presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday demanding payment of public sector salaries, witnesses said. Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other members of the internationally recognised government remain holed up inside the building, two Yemeni officials said. Most of …

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Monday it had fired armed drones at an airport and air base in southern Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned group said it had intercepted an explosive drone. This appears to be the first news of Houthi drones being fired into Saudi …

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that “some hopeful progress” has been made toward a ceasefire in Yemen, but more commitment was needed from the parties to the civil war. The comments were in a statement on a just-concluded visit to the region by Timothy Lenderking, the U.S. special …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said it intercepted six explosive drones fired towards the kingdom on Friday, with the Houthis claiming to have launched attacks into southern Saudi Arabia since dawn. Parts of the destroyed drones fell and injured a 10-year-old boy and also a man …

Tensions between the United States and Iran simmered on Wednesday after a new rocket attack against Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts U.S. forces, which U.S. officials told Reuters fit the profile of a strike by Iran-backed militia. There were no reports of injuries among U.S. service personnel but …