Tag Archives: Syria

US President Joe Biden did not secure a commitment from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday to renew a UN cross-border aid operation into Syria, a senior administration official said ahead of an expected showdown over the issue at the United Nations Security Council next month. Washington and several …

US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sounded upbeat after their first face-to-face talks on Monday, although they did not announce major breakthroughs in the relationship between the two allies, at odds over Russian weapons, Syria, Libya and other issues. “We had a positive and productive meeting, much …

US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss problematic bilateral ties on Monday including Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 missiles, but there is little hope they will resolve any of several disputes that divide NATO. The two leaders will hold their first face-to-face talks since Biden took …

Netflix has announced a new hardship fund in collaboration with the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (AFAC) to support those most affected by the pandemic in the Arab region’s film and TV community. The fund, valued at $500,000, will provide financial support in the form of individual grants ($2000 …

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 …

Judges at a U.N. tribunal for Lebanon have scrapped a new trial against the man convicted of the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, because they expect the court to run out of money and be forced to shut down before it can finish. Last year the tribunal, located …

Five Arab movies are set to screen at the US’s Tribeca Film Festival this month among hundreds of international films. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle The 20th edition of the event is set to take place from June 9-20 both as a hybrid event with both …

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 …

A close aide of killed Daesh group leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been caught in Istanbul, police said Sunday. The Afghan national, only identified by the codename Basim, was detained in the Atasehir district on the city’s Asian side on Wednesday, according to an Istanbul police statement. News reports of …

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 …

Iran’s foreign minister said he was forced to sacrifice diplomacy in favor of operations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a leaked audio recording. The three-hour interview with Mohammad Javad Zarif, which was obtained by the London-based Iran International television channel, reveals the extent of the IRGC’s control over …

A missile launched from Syria was fired into southern Israel early Thursday, setting off air raid sirens near the country’s top-secret nuclear reactor, the Israeli military said. In response, it said it attacked the missile launcher and air-defense systems in neighboring Syria. The incident, marking the most serious violence between …

Saudi Arabia has been re-elected as a member of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in the Asia section, until 2023. It happened at The Hague, in the Netherlands, on Tuesday during the 25th Session of the Conference of the States Parties, which …

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Sunday on the first visit by a senior representative of the Biden administration, whose stance on Iran has worried Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Austin was due to meet Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz during the two-day visit, …

Three NGOs on Monday announced a landmark legal case in Moscow against Russian mercenary group Wagner over the torture of a detainee in Syria, aiming to hold to account a murky fighting force with Kremlin links. “This litigation is a first-ever attempt by the family of a Syrian victim to …

An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy. The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an …

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 …

Iranian militia groups have active cells operating in the US capital Washington DC and other US cities, according to chatrooms used by the groups. Kawtheryoon Electronic Team, a Telegram network used by Iranian militia groups and supporters, claimed in a recent posting that Iranian “resistance cells are rooted even in …

Israel accused Iran on Wednesday of being linked to a recent oil spill off its shores that caused major ecological damage, calling the incident environmental terrorism. The spill was caused by an oil tanker that was carrying pirated cargo from Iran to Syria last month, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gila …

The common interests of Turkey and the United States outweigh their differences and Ankara wants improved cooperation with Washington, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday striking a rare conciliatory tone. Ties between the two NATO allies have been strained over a host of issues. In December, the United States sanctioned …

The UN Security Council has given a green light to keep the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri operating and funded for at least this year. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to the council circulated Friday that the president of …

Former US President Donald Trump had to be talked out of assassinating Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017, according to a former adviser. KT Macfarland, former deputy national security adviser, said Trump insisted that he would “take him out” after seeing pictures of a Syrian regime sarin gas attack on …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not troubled that U.S. President Joe Biden has not phoned him yet, Israel’s ambassador to Washington said on Saturday, seeking to play down the lack of direct contact so far. There has been speculation that the Democratic president could be signalling displeasure over the …

Turkey will not turn back from its acquisition of Russian S-400 defense systems despite U.S. sanctions, it said on Thursday, but added it would seek to resolve issues with its NATO ally through dialogue. In December, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara for acquiring the S-400s on grounds they threaten its …

Pope Francis has called for the war in Syria to end, noting that 2021 marks its 10th anniversary. In an audience with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican, the leader of the Catholic Church also confirmed that his visit to Iraq, beginning on March 5, will mark the restart …

Top advisers for Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on the phone on Tuesday, marking the first official contact between the two countries since Biden took office nearly two weeks ago. Erdogan’s Chief Foreign Policy Adviser Ibrahim Kalin and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed …

The U.S. killing of top general Qassem Soleimani will not deter Iranian resistance, a senior commander said on Friday as tensions mounted in the build-up to the first anniversary of the drone strike. The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, in Iraq on Jan. 3, …

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on officials, entities and individuals it accused of providing support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Washington continued its efforts to cut off funds for Assad’s government. The action, which also targeted the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, aims to push …

Turkey gave an impassive first reaction on Sunday to Joe Biden’s presidential win, with Vice President Fuat Oktay saying it would not change relations between the old allies although Ankara will keep pressing Washington on Syria and other policy differences. Turkey stands to lose more than most other countries if …

The mother of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former U.S. Marine officer who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, on Monday accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of undermining efforts to free her son. In a statement released ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. election, Debra Tice …

Iran’s president warned on Wednesday that fighting between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces in the South Caucasus could trigger a regional war as the death toll rose on the 11th day of hostilities. More than 300 have now died in the renewed fighting in and around the mountain enclave of …

Jordan said a series of massive explosions that rocked the city of Zarqa early on Friday was likely caused by an electric short circuit at a nearby army munitions depot. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the explosions which took place in the desert east of Jordan’s second-largest …

Saudi King Salman told President Vladimir Putin of Russia of his keenness to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries, with special emphasis on their partnership within the OPEC+ alliance of oil producing countries. In a phone call between the new mega-development of NEOM and Moscow, the two leaders also …

From Yemen to India, and parts of Central America to the African Sahel, about a quarter of the world’s people face extreme water shortages that are fueling conflict, social unrest and migration, water experts said on Wednesday. With the world’s population rising and climate change bringing more erratic rainfall, including …

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday it was only a matter of time before the group killed an Israeli soldier to avenge the death of one its fighters in Syria and that it would not be drawn into clashes on the Lebanon-Israel frontier. Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah …

The seizure of thousands of rounds of ammunition being smuggled across the Syrian border has exposed Lebanon’s soaring trade in personal weapons. A Lebanese border patrol intercepted two men on a known smuggling route on the outskirts of Yanta, about 80 km east of Beirut. One of the men hurled …

A meeting in Geneva next week of Syrians tasked with amending their country’s constitution marks an important step and could help open the door to a broader political process, the UN envoy said on Friday. Members of Syria’s Constitutional Committee will be meeting for the first time since last November, …

A triptych by British artist Banksy of the Mediterranean Sea depicting the European refugee crisis has sold for more than £2.2 million ($2.9 million) at auction in London. The three-paneled work, “Mediterranean Sea View 2017,” was put up for sale at Sotheby’s auction house on July 29, where it was …

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s son Hafez and Syrian businessman Wassim Al Qattan under the recently-passed Caesar Act. Hafez Al Assad, born in 2001, is the eldest son of the Syrian leader who has ruled since 2000. He is being sanctioned to …

The deputy leader of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement on Sunday dismissed the prospect of an escalation of violence between the Iran-backed movement and Israel despite increased tensions in the last week. “The atmosphere does not indicate a war … It’s unlikely, the atmosphere of war in the next few months,” …

An Israeli drone crashed inside Lebanon during operational activity along the border, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. “There is no concern that any information was leaked,” the spokeswoman said. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the drone crashed after it experienced a technical failure. Tensions have risen along Israel’s frontier with …

Turkey is taking its decades-old conflict with Kurdish militants deep into northern Iraq, establishing military bases and deploying armed military drones against the fighters in their mountain strongholds. The cross-border campaign has attracted less attention than Turkey’s incursions into neighbouring Syria – partly because Turkish troops have long been in …

The US Treasury imposed mandatory sanctions on Syria on June 17, targeting foreign persons and entities for economic activities that support the Syrian government’s ability to wage war. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act targets beneficiaries of the Syrian conflict including Iran, and signals that the United States will not …