Middle East diplomacy - Page 5

Iraq has begun constructing a fence on its border with Syria to keep Islamic State jihadis from entering its territory, the country’s border guards spokesman revealed Sunday.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has accused the United States and allies of fomenting unrest in Iran.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says mass anti-government demonstrations in Iran prove that international economic pressure against the Islamic Republic is working.

A top Iranian official has accused Israel of being part of an international conspiracy behind the recent wave of anti-regime protests that rocked Tehran in recent days.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Wednesday hosted US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt and adviser Jared Kushner to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, following a new flare-up of hostilities in Gaza.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is heading to Europe on a whirlwind tour designed to seek funds for Tehran as it continues to oppose the U.S. decision to drop the 2015 nuclear accord.

Australia will not follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s lead and move its embassy to Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said, defying her own governing Liberal Party’s request to do so.

Iran is looking to EU nations to provide funds to help it honour the 2015 nuclear accord, President Hassan Rouhani has warned.

Britain’s Prince William will focus on youth during the first-ever visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories by a member of Britain’s royal family, the Palace announced Monday, laying out the itinerary for the historic trip that will begin June 24.

“The Obama Administration is now accused of trying to give Iran secret access to the financial system of the United States. This is totally illegal,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

TEL AVIV – U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Monday slammed American media outlets for their failure to properly fact check in their coverage of the violent riots on the Gaza border, saying journalists should “keep your mouths shut” rather than writing something just to “fit an agenda.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel emerged from their 90-minute meeting in Berlin on Monday still disagreeing about the merits of the Iranian nuclear agreement, but in accord about the need to push Iran out of other countries in the Middle East.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei attacked Israel on Monday, labelling it a “malignant cancerous tumour” in a Tweet.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a whirlwind diplomatic tour of Europe later today when he lands in Germany to tackle what he says are two keys issues: “Iran and Iran.”

Jerusalem and Damascus rejected reports that a deal had been reached under which foreign forces, including Iran and Hezbollah, would withdraw from southern Syria near Israel’s border. “Israel denies reports that an understanding has been reached,” a diplomatic source said on Saturday.

NATO is not obliged to come to the aid of partner Israel if Iran attacks, secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg revealed, amid rising tensions between the Middle East rivals.

Israel and Russia have reached an agreement green-lighting Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria, as well as the withdrawal of Tehran-backed troops from Syria’s border with Israel, according to an Arabic media report Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said foreign militias should leave southwestern Syria as soon as possible, state media outlet TASS reported.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman set off for Moscow on Wednesday night to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to discuss Iran’s growing military presence in Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday Israel’s military had delivered the “harshest blow” in years to Gaza terrorist groups, which he said are inspired by Iran, in his first comments on the most serious flare-up since the 2014 war.

The Syrian air force has forbidden Iranian forces and their allied Shiite militias from using its aircraft hangars and other facilities on its military bases, in light of repeated Israeli attacks, a Syrian news outlet reported on Sunday.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon informed the Security Council on Thursday that in January 2018 Iran had carried out two ballistic missile tests.

TEL AVIV – The U.S. may formally recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said Wednesday. 

Iran’s military threatened the US on Wednesday, saying that in the event of an American attack, leaders in Washington will end up like deposed and executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Senior Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat on Monday urged Arab countries to sever diplomatic ties with the United States, Guatemala and Paraguay over the countries’ relocation of their embassies to Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president’s condition has seen a “clear improvement” after he was taken to hospital with a fever, an Arab lawmaker in Israel’s parliament with close ties to Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday.

Muslim nations condemed the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the national capital Jerusalem as a “provocation and hostility against” the Islamic world.

TEL AVIV — Senators Dianne Feinstein and Bernie Sanders this week released statements about the orchestrated Israeli border assault that must make Hamas terrorists proud.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump at the dedication ceremony of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday and noted the historic nature of moving the diplomatic post from Tel Aviv to the capital.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country rejects the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, adding that the U.S. has “lost its role as mediator” in the Middle East in the process.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday clashed with the government over its Middle East and EU policies Saturday, lambasting them as “improvised” and bad for the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Iran had “crossed a red line” with its missile barrage directed at Israel on Wednesday night, and that the IDF “reacted accordingly” by striking over 50 Iranian targets in Syria in response.

Israel’s security cabinet was meeting Thursday evening at the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv as tensions with Tehran boiled over into direct confrontation for the first time and an Iranian official warned revenge “will come.”

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he made it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel would operate freely in the region in order to protect itself, an a veiled reference to alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria.

TEHRAN – A senior Iranian official on Tuesday hailed the “victory” of Hezbollah in Lebanese elections as a success in the “fight against Israel” and the United States, the state broadcaster reported.

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran would be willing not to abandon the nuclear deal even if the United States pulls out, providing the European Union offers guarantees that Iran would keep benefiting from the accord.