Tag Archives: Shiites

Hizbullah has hosted a conference for Saudi opposition figures in its stronghold south of Beirut on Wednesday in a defiant gesture certain to anger the oil-rich kingdom. The gathering came as the Lebanese government is trying to mend relations with Saudi Arabia that hit a new low in October when …

Iran-backed armed factions in Iraq rallied their supporters in Baghdad on Saturday in a show of strength to mark the second anniversary of the death of Iranian warlord Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign expeditionary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a …

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Saturday commented on President Michel Aoun’s latest call for national dialogue. “We laud the promising preliminary step that was taken by the President, the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister to set the date of the parliamentary elections and sign the decree of organizing them,” …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz urged Lebanon on Thursday to stop “the hegemony of terrorist Hizbullah over the state.” King Salman said in a speech before the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia (Shura Council) that “KSA stands by the Lebanese people.” “KSA urges all Lebanese leaders to prioritize …

Iran is intervening in Iraq to quell destabilising internal unrest stirred up by Iranian-backed militias. The actions come as Tehran seeks to preserve its deep influence in the country while also navigating tense negotiations over its nuclear ambitions with the United States. A particularly high-level intervention came last month, hours …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Hizbullah must become a political party, while noting that Lebanon needs a “new social contract” that would lead to the rebuilding of the middle class that has been ravaged by the country’s brutal economic and financial crisis. Guterres, who is on a four-day …

Lebanon’s religious leaders met Monday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to Lebanon. A joint communique was issued after the talks in which the conferees confirmed their “commitment to openness, tolerance and coexistence as the essence of Lebanon’s identity and stability.” “They stressed the importance of safeguarding these …

Two rockets struck Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. embassy, causing property damage but no casualties, Iraq’s military said early Sunday. One rocket was destroyed by the embassy’s C-RAM defense system. Another fell near a national monument, causing damage to two civilian vehicles, the statement said. An …

A Gulf Cooperation Council summit has called for prohibiting Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hizbullah “from carrying out its terrorist activities and supporting terrorist militias that threaten the stability of Arab countries.” Lebanon’s ties with Gulf states have grown increasingly strained in recent years because of Hizbullah’s growing influence and its interference in …

President Michel Aoun is holding contacts with local and regional leaders to secure the resumption of Cabinet session and resolve the crisis with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, Baabda Palace sources said. “Aoun is communicating with Hizbullah to soften its stance and prevent the Shiite ministers’ boycott of the …

A top Iranian general visited Baghdad after the assassination attempt against Iraq’s prime minister, and said Tehran and its allies had nothing to do with the drone attack that lightly injured the Iraqi leader, two Iraqi politicians said Monday. News of the visit came as an Iraqi army general said …

Expecting a possible siege, pro-government forces in central Yemen are preparing to defend Marib city, their last northern stronghold, against advancing Houthi fighters bent on taking full control of one of Yemen’s key energy-producing regions. Should Marib governorate fall to the Houthis it would deal a blow to the military …

Information Minister George Kordahi on Sunday stressed that he will not resign despite the growing diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. In remarks to al-Jadeed television, Kordahi emphasized that such a move is “out of the question.” The crisis erupted Friday when Saudi Arabia gave Lebanon’s ambassador …

The Arab coalition on Saturday said it had destroyed four explosive-laden Houthi boats in Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah. A coalition statement said warplanes targeted Al-Jabanah coastal base, east of Hodeidah city, where the vessels had been prepared to attack international ships sailing through the Red Sea. “The coalition efforts …

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has described Thursday’s deadly clashes in the Tayyouneh-Ain al-Remmaneh-Shiyyah area an an attempt by Hizbullah to stage a “mini” May 7-like armed campaign against “Christians” with the objective of halting the probe into the Beirut port blast. Asked whether he takes credit for “foiling a …

The stance of Hizbullah and Amal Movement is “a righteous demand that serves the higher national interest as to security and stability and thwarts the strife scheme whose threads are American and is being implemented with domestic Lebanese tools,” sources close to the Shiite duo said. “Some of these tools …

Saudi Arabia has followed events in Lebanon with interest and hopes the situation stabilises as soon as possible, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. Tension over an investigation into a massive blast last year in Beirut developed into the worst street violence in more than a decade …

Soldiers, prisoners and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq on Friday as the country prepared for a Sunday general election where turnout will show how much faith voters have left in a still young democratic system. Many Iraqis say they will not vote https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraqis-vote-ballot-marked-by-growing-social-political-fractures-2021-09-28, having watched established …

Bahrain hosted the Israeli foreign minister on Thursday for the highest-level visit since the countries established ties last year and which included a tour of a U.S. naval headquarters to signal common cause against Iran. Landing in Manama on a plane daubed with an olive branch painting, Foreign Minister Yair …

At least 350,209 people have been killed in the decade-old war in Syria, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday in its first report since 2014 on the death toll, adding that the tally was an “undercount”. The figure includes civilians and combatants and is based on strict …

2 MIN READ DUBAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Houthi military forces are intensifying their push towards the central Yemeni city of Marib, which is held by the Saudi-backed government, and are stepping up fighting in the south, Houthi group and Yemeni military sources said on Thursday. After recent advances and …

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said Iranian fuel shipments imported by the Hezbollah movement constitute a breach of Lebanon’s sovereignty, according to comments published by his office. “The violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty makes me sad,” Mikati told CNN in an interview, his office said in a posting on Twitter. He …

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s armed Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, said on Monday that a first ship carrying Iranian fuel oil to help Lebanon through its financial crisis had docked in Syria on Sunday. Nasrallah had announced last month that he had organised purchases of fuel from Iran, Hezbollah’s main …

The US led on Sunday the global condemnation of a recent escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Houthi militia launched three ballistic missiles toward the Kingdom on Saturday, two targeting the southwestern cities of Najran and Jazan. A third missile was launched at Dammam in the Eastern Province. …

Iraqi populist Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Friday that he and his supporters would take part in an October general election, reversing a decision last month to stay out. Sadr’s bloc is part of a coalition that holds the most seats in parliament now, and is likely to …

Hezbollah’s insistence on imposing its hegemony on the Lebanese state is the main cause of Lebanon’s problems, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. Speaking at an international conference on Lebanon marking the first anniversary of the Beirut Port explosion, Prince Faisal bin Farhan urged Lebanese politicians to confront the …

An explosion ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital Monday killing at least 35 people, according to medical sources, in an apparent suicide bombing ahead of Eid holiday celebrations. In one of the worst attacks in Baghdad in recent years, body parts of victims lay scattered across the …

Three rockets were fired at the US embassy in Iraq early Thursday, the Iraqi army said, at the end of a day marked by rocket and drone attacks on bases hosting American forces in Iraq and Syria. The embassy itself was not hit, the army said, but three nearby places …

The US has carried out air strikes against Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. Sunday’s strikes hit “operational and weapons storage facilities”, in response to drone attacks on US forces, the Pentagon said in a statement. President Joe Biden would “act to protect US personnel”, it added. The Pentagon …

Yemenis from all walks of life have hailed the UN blacklisting of Iran-backed Houthis for killing children in the war-torn country and renewed calls for tougher measures against the rebels, including designation as a terrorist organization. Yemeni politicians, human rights activists and journalists who have long advocated shaming and naming …

An Iraqi militia commander whose arrest last month sparked a standoff between the government and paramilitary groups was freed Wednesday after a judge ordered his release. The release of Qassim Mahmoud Musleh came as Iranian Gen. Esmail Ghaani, head of the expeditionary Quds Force, arrived in Baghdad to meet with …

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 …

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, …

Bahrain’s Cabinet amended its Press, Printing and Publishing Law on Monday that included the abolition of jailing journalists, and the addition of a major section regarding digital media, Bahraini daily Al-Ayyam reported. The Cabinet also approved a memorandum of the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs regarding the amendments …

Tehran supports attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force has admitted. Ismail Qaani told a conference in the northeastern city of Mashhad that the Houthis had launched  “18 operations in less than 10 days” targeting …

Pope Francis on Sunday met the father of Alan Kurdi, the boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach six years ago became an image of the suffering of Syrians trying to escape war. The pontiff, winding up a historic trip to Iraq, met Abdullah Kurdi at the end …

The United States will do what it sees as necessary to defend its interests after a rocket attack last week against Iraq’s Ain al-Sada airbase, which hosts American, coalition and Iraqi forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, Austin said the United …

Pope Francis headed to Iraq on Friday for his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012, and said he felt duty-bound to make the “emblematic” visit because the country had suffered so much for so long. An Alitalia plane carrying him, his entourage, a security detail, and about …

Abu Arkan Ibrahim picked up a rifle and joined the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. troops when they occupied his hometown of Fallujah in 2003. He was badly burned in the fighting. Now, he fears the departure of the Americans he once battled. Over the past 17 years, the municipal employee …

Yemen’s internationally recognized government has called for pressure to stop the Houthi offensive and siege on several villages in the southern province of Taiz, the official Saba news agency reported. Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed said during a phone call with the Taiz governor, Nabil Shamsan, that Houthi crimes …

The United States on Tuesday designated the Bahrain-based Saraya al-Mukhtar group as a terrorist organization, accusing it of being backed by Iran and of having plotted attacks against U.S. personnel in the Gulf Arab state. The move, which comes amid a slew of sanctions announced by Washington as President Donald …

The Iraqi military is training a former member of an Iran-backed militia, who is under U.S. sanctions for killing protesters, to become a high-ranking officer in the army, according to six government, security and militia officials. They said that Hussein Falih Aziz, known as Abu Zainab al-Lami, had been sent …

Washington has made preparations to withdraw diplomats from Iraq after warning Baghdad it could shut its embassy, two Iraqi officials and two Western diplomats said, a step Iraqis fear could turn their country into a battle zone. Any move by the United States to scale down its diplomatic presence in …

The British embassy in Baghdad said that a British diplomatic vehicle was hit buy an IED on Tuesday morning on the airport road in Baghdad, but caused no injuries. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Separately, at 1 a.m. on Tuesday, two Katyusha rockets landed inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified …