Middle East

State Department officials voiced concern over risks to civilians before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rammed through $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, a former aide was quoted Monday as telling lawmakers. Democrats in Congress issued subpoenas to compel appearances by four aides to …

Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) sent a message to Washington on Sunday calling for international control of land and sea border crossings and ports to prevent weapons from being sent to the capital’s government, Al Arabiya TV channel reported. “The LNA insists on international control over land …

Yair Netanyahu tweeted the addresses and phone numbers of three men who led protests against his father’s administration. All three said they later received death threats. An Israeli court on Sunday ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s older son to stop harassing three people helping to lead protests against his father’s …

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday, a government source said. Hitti decided to quit over differences with the premier and frustration at being sidelined, a ministry official and sources close to him told Reuters earlier.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has a habit of making outlandish comments both in person and on social media, has been invited to pay a visit to Egypt after he tweeted that the pyramids were built by aliens. Was the 49-year-old boss off SpaceX and Tesla being serious when he tweeted …

An American drone operated by the Saudi-led coalition has been shot down by Yemen’s army over the northern province of Hajjah. The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on Sunday afternoon that air defense forces had targeted the AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma drone with a proper missile …

A war of words has escalated between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over Libya, where the two states support opposing sides in the African country’s long-running conflict. According to reports, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, has slammed Turkish defense minister for his recent …

Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday and thronged the streets of central Jerusalem, as weeks of protests against the Israeli leader appeared to be gaining steam. The demonstration in central Jerusalem, along with smaller gatherings in Tel Aviv, near Netanyahu’s beach …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said connecting Iran-Iraq railway creates new and serious momentum for developing bilateral interactions, adding that deep relations between the two countries guarantee the implementation of agreements. Speaking in a phone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, President Rouhani congratulated him on the occasion of Eid …

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced on Saturday that it has arrested the ringleader of a terrorist group known as Tondar which is based in the United States. Iran has dealt a “heavy and severe blow” to a terrorist group based in the US. Iran has arrested Jamshid Sharmahd, the alleged ringleader …

The United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs said on Saturday that Turkey should stop interfering in Arab affairs, criticising comments on Libya made by Turkey’s defence minister. Turkish media had reported the Turkish minister making remarks critical of the UAE’s actions over Libya. The UAE, alongside Egypt …

A shawarma restaurant in Jordan that did not refrigerate its meat despite a 40-degree heatwave has been blamed for an outbreak of food poisoning, which has left a child dead and 826 people hospitalized. Reports from the Middle Eastern nation say everyone who fell ill, including the five-year-old boy who …

A wave of violence in Sudan’s Darfur region has forced Save the Children to close facilities providing health services and food for 14,000 children, the charity said Friday. The move came after hundreds of armed men attacked Masteri, a town largely inhabited by farmers from non-Arab minority groups, killing more …

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has slammed US sanctions on Tehran as “a crime against the Iranian nation”. “The sanctions applied by the Americans against the Iranian nation are a crime, and there is no doubt about it,” the Leader said in a televised speech on …

Masked pilgrims arrived Thursday at Mount Arafat, a hill near Islam’s holiest site, to pray and repent on the most important day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The global coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over every aspect of this year’s pilgrimage, which last …

More than 100 civilians including children were killed by ground fighting, explosive remnants, and air raids in Libya between April and June, according to the United Nations. The figure is an increase of 65 percent from the first three months of the year, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the country is currently passing over the peak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. He made the remarks in a ceremony held via videoconference on the inauguration of the biggest medium-density fibreboard (MDF) production unit in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran. “All Iranian provinces, …

The following is the full text of a message delivered on July 28, 2020, by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the occasion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. In the message, His Eminence points to the inability of many Muslims to participate in this year’s …

Hajj pilgrimage is usually one of the world’s largest religious gatherings but this year only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in the ritual as the Saudi hosts try to prevent the spread of virus pandemic. Muslim pilgrims have begun the annual Hajj, dramatically downsized …

Pilgrims were quarantined Tuesday in the Muslim holy city of Mecca ahead of the dramatically downsized hajj as Saudi authorities strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. Up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in the annual ritual starting Wednesday, according to hajj …