Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

US joins forces with Saudis to strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq

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Oil price spikes after flare-up of fighting and claimed Iranian attacks on three tankers in strait of Hormuz

The US military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days. The strikes on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of a former paramilitary alliance that includes pro-Iran groups.

In what Washington cast ⁠as “an attempted surprise ⁠attack” by Tehran, Iran had launched multiple ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. Iran’s target was a US base in Jordan, Axios cited a US official as saying.

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Prisoners at Iran’s largest jail sew lips shut in hunger strike as executions soar

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At least 1,500 protest after six men on drug-related charges put in solitary confinement before possible execution

Prisoners at Iran’s largest jail have sewn their lips shut as hundreds of them joined a mass hunger strike amid a surge in executions over drug offences and charges linked to anti-government protests.

The hunger strike, involving at least 1,500 death row prisoners at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran, began two weeks ago after six men convicted on drug-related charges were transferred to solitary confinement before their possible execution, according to Iranian rights groups.

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Asia ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ as Red Sea oil blockade worsens energy crisis

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The Houthi threat to Saudi oil exports comes as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines are still reeling from the closure of the strait of Hormuz

Governments in Asia are scrambling to avoid their second major energy crisis in six months, as another maritime chokepoint in the Middle East faces a violent blockade, leaving only the Suez canal completely open for the free movement of gulf oil.

Countries like Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea – which rely on Middle East oil for up to 90% of their imports – are working to secure supplies after Yemen’s Houthis launched a blockade of Saudi Arabian shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandab strait, which forms the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

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Trump warns of return to ‘strong military action’ if Iran diplomacy fails

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Washington and Tehran issue conflicting messages over the status of talks to end Middle East crisis

Donald Trump has once again warned that the US will return to “strong military action” against Iran if diplomatic efforts do not bring a rapid resolution to the crisis in the Middle East.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” the US president told Axios on Monday. Asked for how long he would allow the talks to proceed, he answered: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”

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‘You say genocide, I say war’: Boy George releases pro-Israel song, We Will Dance Again

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Culture Club singer sings ‘I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human’, in song defending Israel’s response to Hamas attack

Boy George has released a new song entitled We Will Dance Again, which voices support for Israel’s military action in Palestine.

Posted on X and Instagram with the Hebrew title עוד נרקוד alongside its English translation, the song features a pop-reggae backing. The opening lyrics are: “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for / Does it get ugly? You bet it does / When I know you wanna kill every last one of us.”

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Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’ in calls for PM’s arrest

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Israeli prime minister says ICC’s war crime charges are ‘bogus’ and plans to be in New York for UN gathering this fall

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, is “fomenting hate” by calling the Israeli prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over Israel’s war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations general assembly.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said on Wednesday that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

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US pauses Iran attacks after Trump advised to halt bombing

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Top military officials say campaign has reached its limit of effectiveness and warn of dwindling stocks of munitions

The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.

Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat.

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Iran-backed Houthis claim missile attack on Saudi Arabia as regional tensions escalate

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Saudi air defences intercept ballistic missiles as Iran reports first night without US strikes in two weeks

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile attack on the southern Saudi city of Jizan on Saturday, after vowing retaliation against the kingdom for attacks this week.

Iran, meanwhile, reported no strikes overnight on Saturday for the first time after two weeks of US attacks. The Iranian health ministry spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said: “Iran had a peaceful night” in a post on X. Tensions, however, remain high.

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Treasure as trinkets: Zendaya’s earrings renew debate on ownership of ancient artefacts

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Jewellery made from BC Iran worn at Odyssey photocall throws spotlight on the trade of rare archeological finds

The Odyssey has stormed cinemas, but while its take on the Homeric epic has created ripples among western classicists, it is an actor’s earrings that have made waves further afield.

Zendaya, who portrays the goddess Athena in the movie, provoked outrage when she appeared at a London photocall wearing earrings that were allegedly made from Iranian artefacts dating back to the 1st millennium BC.

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Trump switched planes in Turkey earlier this month because of threat from Iran proxy forces – report

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President flew to Ankara onboard Qatari-gifted jet, without advanced defenses, and flew home on old Air Force One

Donald Trump switched aircraft before departing Turkey earlier this month after US officials determined there was a credible threat from Iranian proxy forces targeting him and Air Force One, according to a new report from the New York Times.

The threat surfaced while the US president was attending the Nato summit. He had arrived in Ankara onboard the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, an aircraft that Trump acknowledged does not have the same advanced defensive systems as the older Air Force One.

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How Chinese tech and Russian tactics are aiding Iran’s bombing of US bases

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Increasingly accurate and lethal attacks are revealing weaknesses in stretched defences across the Gulf

As the crisis in the Middle East escalates, Iran has been bombing US bases and critical infrastructure in the Gulf with increasing accuracy, helped by Chinese satellite imagery and tactics learned by Russia in Ukraine.

Three US soldiers were killed last Friday in an attack on the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan, which was being protected by a Thaad air defence system. Satellite imagery later released by Iranian media showed several buildings had been destroyed.

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UK ‘ready to defend itself’ after Iranian threat over US bases

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IRGC claims base in south-west England was used by US to launch bombing missions, making it ‘legitimate target’

The government has said the UK is “ready to defend itself” after Iran’s military warned that any bases being used by the US were “legitimate targets”.

The UK has allowed the US to launch “defensive” operations from British bases hosting American planes since the start of its war on Iran but has refused to help in offensive operations.

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Israeli security minister joins Jewish extremists as they storm al-Aqsa mosque compound

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Far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was among thousands who gathered at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site

Israel’s far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, joined thousands of Jewish extremists who stormed Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Thursday.

Escorted by armed police, they prayed, waved the Israeli flag and sang the national anthem in a provocative display of political power.

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Dubai offers £600 rewards to residents who lure friends to visit as tourist numbers plummet

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Residents eligible for dining and hotel packages if they can persuade family and friends to city spurned by visitors amid Iran war

Dubai is offering to pay residents who attract family and friends to visit the emirate in an effort to revive tourist numbers that have plummeted since the city was drawn into the US-Israel war on Iran.

The Dubai Invite scheme, an initiative of the department of economy and tourism, allows residents of the United Arab Emirates to nominate friends and relatives and then to receive benefits worth more than 3,000 UAE dirham (about £610) if they visit.

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Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on Red Sea tankers as US launches 12th night of strikes on Iran – Middle East crisis live

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US military says it is degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten ships in strait of Hormuz; Houthis say tankers violated their blockade; US signs nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

More on Yemen’s Houthis claiming strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea:

The master of one tanker reported being struck by an unknown projectile about 70 nautical miles south-west of Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire that the crew was fighting, the British naval security monitor UKMTO said.

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Mamdani says he can’t arrest Netanyahu as mayor and urges US to enforce ICC warrant

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Mamdani admits he lacks power to arrest Israeli prime minister after saying he’s ‘not welcome’ in New York City

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, doubled down on his support for the international criminal court (ICC) on Wednesday and called on federal authorities to execute the court’s warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest should he visit the city in the fall.

“I call on the federal government to join the international criminal court and to execute both this warrant as well as any warrant the international criminal court holds,” Mamdani told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Iran’s foreign minister describes moment of attack that killed Khamenei

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Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.

In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran’s senior leadership.

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Zendaya faces backlash for wearing ancient Iranian jewellery at Odyssey event

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Film star promotes Christopher Nolan film epic wearing gold artefacts dating back almost 3,000 years

The Odyssey is a story about a Greek king’s long journey home. But a pair of earrings worn on the new film adaptation’s press tour – and their long separation from their homeland – is sparking controversy.

At a photocall in London, Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena in the Christopher Nolan film, wore a pair of earrings fashioned from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC.

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Iran vows not a ‘single drop’ of oil or gas will pass strait of Hormuz as US carries out ninth night of strikes – Middle East crisis live

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Revolutionary Guard says it targeted US aircraft in Jordan and stopped two tankers in strait while American military says it is ‘holding Iran accountable’

The price of oil jumped in early Asian trade on Monday after the US carried out its latest wave of strikes on Iran and a vessel caught fire in the strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude for September delivery rose 2.72% to $90.50 a barrel by around 0100 GMT, after briefly crossing $91 – its highest price since June.

CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction.

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US launches 10th round of strikes as Iran says it is in ‘full-scale war’

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Diplomats say de-escalation talks continue as Trump vows retaliation over US soldier deaths

The US military said it has launched its 10th consecutive round of strikes on Iran to force the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s president said the country is in a “full-scale war” after the US expanded its aerial campaign and Tehran struck Washington’s Gulf allies, even as diplomats said talks to de-escalate were continuing.

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