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Iran war

TEHRAN — Persian carpets were rolled out in the Beit-e Rahbar, the downtown Tehran offices of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday, a sign that important guests were on their way. One by one, members of Iran’s establishment, politicians, clerics and commanders filed in, many exchanging the perfunctory greetings of committed rivals. They sat cross-legged and waited anxiously, knowing a crucial week of nuclear negotiations […]

Sophisticated attacks by an Islamic State branch in Saudi Arabia show the jihadist group is better established there than previously suspected, and that fueled by anger over Arab civil wars, Riyadh’s militancy problem is not going away. A sustained militant campaign could undermine stability in the world’s top oil exporter and birthplace of Islam, one of the few major Arab states that has so far mostly avoided […]

VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry began on Saturday what the Obama administration hopes will be the final push for a nuclear accord with Iran, just three days before a deadline for concluding an agreement. However, American officials have almost discounted the notion that a deal will be made by Tuesday’s deadline. Their goal is to bridge a number of technical and political divides over the […]

Five former members of President Obama’s inner circle of Iran advisers have written an open letter expressing concern that a pending accord to stem Iran’s nuclear program “may fall short of meeting the administration’s own standard of a ‘good’ agreement” and laying out a series of minimum requirements that Iran must agree to in coming days for them to support a final deal. Several of the senior […]

SANA, Yemen — For nearly three months, Saudi Arabia, along with its allies, has been bombing Yemen, its southern neighbor, hoping to force the retreat of Shiite rebels who have seized major cities and to return the country’s president from the Saudi guest mansion where he lives to the presidential palace. So far, it has not worked. The rebels, known as the Houthis, have gained ground, more […]

By THOMAS ERDBRINK and RICK GLADSTONE June 23, 2015 TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader appeared to stiffen his hard line Tuesday on concessions in any nuclear agreement with foreign powers, one week before the deadline for completing an accord. In a speech broadcast live on Iranian state television, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he would not abide any freeze on Iran’s sensitive nuclear work for long periods, ruled out […]

Op-Ed Contributor By ALAN J. KUPERMAN June 23, 2015 PRESIDENT OBAMA’S main pitch for the pending nuclear deal with Iran is that it would extend the “breakout time” necessary for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. In a recent interview with NPR, he said that the current breakout time is “about two to three months by our intelligence estimates.” By contrast, he claimed, the pending deal […]

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BAGHDAD — When Umm Ahmed returned to her Iraqi hometown, Tikrit, in recent days she found a city devastated by fighting with militants from the Islamic State: buildings burned, shops looted, schools shuttered and hospitals inoperable. Still, it was home, and it was good to be back. “Today, I am in the middle of Tikrit,” Umm Ahmed, 39, said last week, preferring to be identified by her […]

JERUSALEM — A United Nations investigation found “serious violations of international humanitarian law” that “may amount to war crimes” by both Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip during their bloody battle last summer, according to a report released on Monday in Geneva. The report, written by a two-member independent commission of inquiry and submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, said that “impunity prevails […]

Saudi leaders, whose portraits are displayed at the stock exchange in Riyadh, have not confirmed the leak’s authenticity. By BEN HUBBARD June 20, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — It seems that everyone wants something from Saudi Arabia. Before becoming the president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi wanted visas to take his family on a religious pilgrimage. A Lebanese politician begged for cash to pay his bodyguards. Even the state news agency […]

WASHINGTON — Iran continued its “terrorist-related” activity last year and also continued to provide broad military support to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said Friday in its annual report on terrorism. The assessment suggests that neither the election of President Hassan Rouhani nor the prospect of a nuclear accord with the United States and its negotiating partners has had a moderating effect on Iran’s […]

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT June 19, 2015 WASHINGTON — Iran continued its “terrorist-related” activity last year and also continued to provide broad military support to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said Friday in its annual report on terrorism. The State Department’s assessment suggests that neither the election of President Hassan Rouhani nor the prospect of a nuclear accord with the United States and its negotiating partners […]

Yemenis waited to buy food and water in Taiz on Friday. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has appealed for a two-week humanitarian truce in honor of Ramadan, which began this week. By SOMINI SENGUPTA June 19, 2015 UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations mediator for Yemen peace talks said on Friday that four days of discussions had ended with no agreement for even a brief pause in […]

|By TAP Staff| Bahrain’s Chief of Police  confirmed that security authorities have seized significant quantities of internationally sourced explosives and bomb-making materials planned for use in terrorist attacks against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The raid on a house in Dar Kulaib on 6(th) June, in the south west of the island, came as a result of forensic intelligence gathered by Bahrain’s security forces following the seizure in […]

INTERNATIONAL.  Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) totaled 31.11 million barrels per day (b/d) in May, up 180,000 b/d from April and the group’s highest monthly volume since October 2012, according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts. “OPEC’s communique after the June 5 meeting mentioned that members had been urged to adhere to its production […]

OMA Emirates implements Ingenio terminal for NBO SHARJAH, 14 hours, 16 minutes ago OMA Emirates, a provider of cutting edge technology for the payment industry, has implemented its Ingenico Point of Sales (POS) solution for National Bank of Oman (NBO). The technologically advanced payment terminal from Ingenico used by OMA Emirates – Solution Gulf that works on multi communication protocol will make it possible for mobile and […]

Networks upgrade key for Iraq to be Net transit hub BAGHDAD, 16 hours, 26 minutes ago A more reliable terrestrial broadband network could enable Iraq to become a transcontinental transit route for Internet traffic, a senior executive at one of two firms providing submarine connectivity to the war-torn country told Reuters. Iraq is ideally located to carry Internet traffic between Asia and Europe and built a submarine […]

Video | Explosion in Old City of Sana A Unesco world heritage site was damaged on Friday by a blast that witnesses said was caused by airstrikes in Yemen’s capital. By RICK GLADSTONE June 12, 2015 A protected 2,500-year-old cultural heritage site in Yemen’s capital, Sana, was obliterated in an explosion early Friday, and witnesses and news reports said the cause was a missile or bomb from a Saudi […]

UAE. Economic Insight: Middle East Q2 2015 is produced by Cebr, ICAEW’s partner and economic forecaster. Commissioned by ICAEW, the report provides a snapshot of the region’s economic performance. The report undertakes a quarterly review of the Middle East, focusing on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait), as well as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon […]

ISTANBUL — Late into the night on Sunday on the shattered streets of Kobani, the Syrian Kurdish city devastated last year by battles with militants affiliated with the Islamic State, residents celebrated the outcome of the recent Turkish parliamentary election results, honking horns, cheering and firing their guns. The election, in which the Kurdish party surpassed a threshold for the first time to enter Parliament, was the […]

Video | U.S. General Affirms Support for Israel Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepted an award from his Israeli counterpart and emphasized the American military’s strong relationship with Israel. By HELENE COOPER June 9, 2015 TEL AVIV — The Obama administration on Tuesday ramped up efforts to ease Israel’s opposition to a possible nuclear deal with Iran, as the top American military leader […]

|TAP Special| Are Saudi Arabia and Iran heading towards a direct war? An opinion piece by influential Saudi commentator, carried by Al Arabia News, argues that the Saudi military operation against the Houthis is part of a Saudi policy combining diplomacy and war to stop Iranian influence and ultimately push it out of Syria and Yemen. The veteran commentator, Jamal Khashoggi, quotes Qassem Soleimani, commander of the […]

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM June 9, 2015 CAIRO — Islamic State militants staged attacks near Baghdad and the Libyan city of Surt on Tuesday, underscoring the group’s persistent strength on both fronts despite a monthslong American-led air campaign against it in Syria and Iraq. In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant along the coastal road westward from its stronghold in Surt toward Misurata, a commercial center […]

By THOMAS ERDBRINK June 8, 2015 TEHRAN — The woman wore form-fitting clothes, and a scarf wrapped around her head that revealed a few of her blond tresses. The men carried backpacks to official meetings. Nothing all that unusual in most places, but enough to touch off a firestorm of criticism this weekend from Iranian lawmakers, who accused their visitors of flouting Islamic law by — as one put […]

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