January 14th, 20210NEW YORK — On Thursday, three top United Nations officials all called on the United States to revoke its decision to designate Yemen’s Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, warning it would push the country into a large-scale famine and chill peace efforts.
U.N. Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths, U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock and...
January 7th, 20210BAGHDAD — A judge in Baghdad has issued an arrest warrant for President Trump for the killing of an Iranian general and Iraqi militia leader last year.
The Washington-directed drone strike had killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside of the capital’s airport last January.
Al-Muhandis was the deputy...
December 30th, 20200YEMEN - As the newly formed government arrived at Aden Airport in Yemen, several explosions went off, killing at least 22 and injuring more than 50 people.
https://youtu.be/KN2bmuo5CKQ
Above: Deadly explosions hit Yemen's Aden Airport as newly formed government arrives (viewer discretion advised)
All of the Cabinet members are safe,...
December 8th, 20200TEHRAN — The killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a “satellite-controlled smart system”, Tasnim news agency quoted a senior commander as saying.
Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen...
December 4th, 20200TEHRAN — Iran is unlikely to retaliate over the assassination of a prominent nuclear scientist before the inauguration of Joe Biden in case it jeopardizes any future sanctions relief, the top U.S. envoy on Iran told Reuters on Thursday.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran, but had been named by Israel as a prime...
November 27th, 20200TEHRAN — An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb program was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...
November 26th, 20200RIYADH — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman earlier this week, despite a denial of the meeting by Israeli officials.
On the discussion table was a country that has played the role of boogeyman for both Israel and its allies in the U.S. government: Iran. The two leaders talked...
November 16th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump, with two months left in office, asked for options on attacking Iran’s main nuclear site last week, but ultimately decided against taking the dramatic step, a U.S. official said on Monday.
Trump made the request during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with his top national security aides,...
October 8th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has gained a prominent endorsement from several diplomatic and policy experts on the Middle East.
A substantial list of former ambassadors to Middle East and North African (MENA) nations, foreign policy advisors and Middle East affairs experts have signed on to a letter,...
August 21st, 20200MUSCAT - The Sultan of Oman issued 28 new royal decrees this week during a reshuffle of government roles and responsibilities.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said has named Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi as foreign minister to replace foreign affairs chief Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah after 23 years of service.
When you have...
August 5th, 20200BEIRUT — On Wednesday, Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing people in the wreckage caused by a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday as early investigations blamed...
July 8th, 20200TEHRAN (REUTERS) — Iran’s coronavirus death toll exceeded 12,000 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with 153 deaths in the past 24 hours, amid a sharp rise in the number of daily infections and deaths in the past week as lockdown measures have eased.
The total number of infections has reached 248,379, with 209,463 people...
May 6th, 20201WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a disappointing and surprising move, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has signed her name to a letter backed by the Israeli lobby AIPAC that demands an extension of the U.N.’s arms embargo on Iran.
Omar has joined 391 members of the House in signing the letter, which effectively bolsters the Trump...
March 9th, 20200Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus:
The spread in figures
The number of people infected with the coronavirus topped 107,000 globally, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements. Mainland China, outside the epicenter of Hubei province, reported no new locally transmitted cases for the second straight...
March 4th, 20200RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has extended its suspension of travel to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina from foreigners to Saudi citizens and residents, after it reported its first case of the novel coronavirus in an individual who failed to disclose he had travelled to Iran before entering the country.
“Based on the recommendations of...
February 28th, 20200DUBAI - Coronavirus cases have now been confirmed in at least nine countries in the Middle East, with the largest number of deaths in Iran, and six countries reporting first infections this past week.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first country in the Middle East to report a confirmed case of the virus, officially known as...
February 21st, 20200BAGHDAD — Iraq’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi said on Wednesday that he has picked a cabinet of political independents and has called on the country’s parliament to hold an extraordinary session next week to give it its vote of confidence.
Speaking to the nation in a televised speech, Allawi said that...
February 21st, 20200ALEPPO — The Syrian army said on Monday it had taken full control of dozens of towns in Aleppo’s northwestern countryside and it would press on with its campaign to wipe out militant groups “wherever they are found."
The advances were made after President Bashar al-Assad’s forces drove insurgents from the M5 highway linking...
January 30th, 20200SEATTLE — A report by a community newspaper in Washington unveiled a directive issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Seattle Field Office that instructs officers to perform vetting on individuals from or who have connections to Palestine, Lebanon or Iran, as well as those belonging to other nationalities that have traveled...
January 14th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C — A new report by NBC News claims President Trump authorized the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani seven months ago with the condition that Trump would have final signoff on any specific plans to kill the general. The information was provided by five current and former senior...
January 12th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — Defense Secretary Mark Esper contradicted President Trump on Sunday, saying he did not see any specific evidence from intelligence officials that Iran had plans to attack four U.S. embassies. Trump has used these purported plans to justify the Jan. 2 killing of Iran Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in...
January 10th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to stop President Trump from further military action against Iran as the Middle East remained tense after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian commander and Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes.
The resolution passed 224-194 along party lines in the...
January 10th, 20200KIEV — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Friday that Iran was cooperating with an investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane, and that Kiev was not ruling out any version yet of what might have happened.
Canada and others have said the plane was brought down by an Iranian missile, probably by...
January 10th, 20200The world has been in the grips of an uncertain fear since it woke up to news of the Jan. 2 assassination of a top Iranian general at the hands of the U.S.. Images from recent memory of endless, expensive and insane military ventures in the Middle East became vivid once more as Tehran promised revenge and President Trump goaded the...
January 10th, 20200DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Faith leaders from across Metro Detroit gathered Thursday in the Islamic House of Wisdom to call for calm in the face of escalating tensions between Iran and the United States following a drone attack that killed an Iranian general and a missile attack on an Iraqi air base housing American troops. The Christian and...
January 8th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. - At the White House on Wednesday, President Trump seemed to simmer down days of heated rhetoric and said the U.S. would not respond to early morning missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops with military force.
Early Wednesday, both Iranian authorities and U.S officials confirmed Tehran launched a series of...
January 7th, 20200TEHRAN - Tensions came to a head on early Wednesday as Iran retaliated against the U.S. killing of Iran Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani by launching a series of surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.
Reuters reports the firing of more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian...
January 6th, 20200TEHRAN — On Monday, in the wake of the January 2 targeted killing through a missile strike of Iran Revolutionary Guard General and important political figure Qassem Soleimani, throngs of Iranians mourned the death of a beloved leader.
Aerial views and independent reports on the ground told of a vast procession of mourners, a mass...
