As war heroes’ bodies come home, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces tells Yemen: ‘We are with you until the mission is accomplished’ The UAE on Saturday buried its war heroes, began three days of mourning for their sacrifice and pledged unceasing military and humanitarian efforts to restore peace,security and stability to Yemen. The bodies of […]
Middle East By KAREEM FAHIM September 4, 2015 SANA, Yemen — The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that 45 of its soldiers were killed fighting the Houthi insurgents in a province east of Yemen’s capital, in a major setback for the coalition of Arab forces that have been trying for months to vanquish the rebels. The death total was the largest in a single day for the military […]
SANA, Yemen — A suicide bomber and a subsequent car bomb killed at least 20 people on Wednesday at a mosque here in Yemen’s rebel-held capital amid the country’s raging civil war, officials said. The suicide bomber struck inside the mosque in Sana during the evening call to prayers, while the car bomb exploded outside an entrance, the authorities said. Medical officials said that wounded people were […]
Middle East President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, arrives on Tuesday at a session of the Assembly of Experts, the country’s top clerical body in charge of appointing, supervising and even dismissing the supreme leader. By THOMAS ERDBRINK September 1, 2015 TEHRAN — Flexing their muscles, some of the toughest anti-American voices in Iran said on Tuesday that the United States remains their country’s top enemy, guilty of “uncountable” crimes. […]
TEHRAN — Iran’s judiciary sentenced two people to 10 years in prison on Sunday for spying for the United States and Israel, but their names were not released, local media reported. It was not clear if the Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian, who faces similar charges, was one of them. It is not uncommon in Iran to hand down sentences without revealing names of the convicted, especially in […]
GAZA CITY — At this time last year, as the missiles and bombs rained down in Israel’s lopsided seven-week war against Gaza, I wrote about our struggle to survive during the holy month of Ramadan. This year, another Ramadan has passed, Eid al-Fitr is over and the reality on the ground has changed very little. The same dreadful conditions are creating desperation among Gaza’s inhabitants, whose lives […]
GAZA CITY — A new training regimen for fighters in Hamas’s armed wing employs slide presentations and a whiteboard rather than Kalashnikov rifles and grenades. The young men wear polo shirts instead of fatigues and black masks. They do not chant anti-Israel slogans, but discuss how the Geneva Conventions governing armed conflict dovetail with Islamic principles. The three-day workshop, conducted last month by the International Committee of […]
WASHINGTON — The State Department said Wednesday that a recent visit to Moscow by the head of Iran’s paramilitary Quds force had violated a United Nations travel ban that has been imposed because of concerns about Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. “We’ve raised this travel with senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials,” said Mark Toner, the deputy State Department spokesman. He added that Russia had not responded […]
CAIRO — The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State said on Wednesday that it had beheaded Tomislav Salopek, a 30-year-old Croatian expatriate worker who was taken from his car on the outskirts of Cairo last month. The claim, if confirmed, would represent the first time that the militant group, Sinai Province, had abducted and killed a foreigner during two years of attacks against the government. A photograph […]
CAIRO — Egyptian militants affiliated with the Islamic State extremist group have threatened to kill a Croatian hostage within 48 hours unless the Egyptian government releases female prisoners, according to a video released Wednesday. It was the first time in a two-year-old campaign of violence against the government that the militants had kidnapped or threatened to execute a foreigner, raising new fears of more attacks. Many analysts […]
DOHA, Qatar — Persian Gulf monarchies issued a cautious endorsement on Monday of the accord Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated last month to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. “This was the best option among other options,” said Khalid al-Attiyah, the foreign minister of Qatar, who hosted a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council that Mr. Kerry attended. In a news conference with Mr. Kerry, Mr. Attiyah said […]
CAIRO — Secretary of State John Kerry told the Egyptian authorities on Sunday that they would not be able to defeat terrorism at home unless they showed greater respect for human rights. “The success of our fight against terrorism depends on building trust between the authorities and the public,” Mr. Kerry said at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart. “If that possibility does not exist, […]
ANTAKYA, Turkey — A Pentagon program to train moderate Syrian insurgents to fight the Islamic State has been vexed with problems of recruitment, screening, dismissals and desertions that have left only a tiny band of fighters ready to do battle. This tiny band, 54 in all, suffered perhaps the most destructive problem yet on Thursday: Its leader, deputy and at least five others were abducted in Syria, […]
JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter gave a surprisingly upbeat assessment on Wednesday of American relations with Saudi Arabia, asserting that the kingdom welcomed the international nuclear deal reached with its regional rival, Iran. Mr. Carter, who visited Jidda and held his first meeting with King Salman, also said the Saudi monarch would visit the United States this fall and is committed to fighting […]
HUSSEIN LOOKOUT, Israel — The Obama administration opened its Middle East reassurance tour on Monday with the secretary of defense, Ashton B. Carter, promising Israeli officials that the United States would remain vigilant in trying to combat what he called “Iran’s malign influence” in the region despite the nuclear deal struck last week among Tehran and six world powers. To make his point, Mr. Carter let Israeli […]
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that creates the basis for international economic sanctions against Iran to be lifted, a move that incited a furious reaction in Israel and potentially sets up an angry showdown in Congress. The 15-0 vote for approval of the resolution — 104 pages long including annexes and lists — was written in Vienna by […]
CAIRO — Security forces killed six antigovernment protesters at Islamist demonstrations near Cairo on Friday morning, highlighting continued tensions two years after the military takeover that removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. The clashes, in the Giza neighborhoods of Talbiya and Nahia, took place as crowds gathered after morning prayers that signaled the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, at the end of the holy […]
VIENNA — One by one, the roadblocks to a nuclear accord between Iran and the United States had been painstakingly cleared. But as the negotiations went into their third week in the neoclassical Coburg Palace hotel this month, a major dispute lingered over whether a ban on Iran’s ability to purchase conventional weapons and missile technology would remain in place. The American delegation, led by Secretary of […]
VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally has to do with nuclear weapons. The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations Security Council beginning nine years ago, ban the shipment of conventional arms into […]
VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally have to do with nuclear weapons. The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations Security Council beginning nine years ago, ban the shipment of conventional arms into […]
TEHRAN — The chants of “Death to America” and the burning of American flags in the streets are as familiar a part of life here as air pollution and traffic jams. With the United States and Iran on the verge of a potentially historic nuclear accord, however, there has been a distinct change in tone: the anti-Americanism is getting even more strident. The rising levels of vitriol […]
LONDON — Last week, the State Department announced the resumption of “security assistance” to Bahrain. This ended a four-year ban on the transfer of arms that the United States put into effect in 2011, after the Bahraini government’s harsh crackdown on Arab Spring protests. In a statement, the State Department argued that Bahrain had made enough progress in human rights reform to be rewarded by ending the […]
Oil prices tumbled their most in three months on Monday, with U.S. crude falling 6 percent, after Greece’s rejection of debt bailout terms and China’s rolling out of emergency measures to support its stock markets shook global markets. Adding to the pressure on oil, Iran and global powers were trying to meet a July 7 deadline on a nuclear deal, which could bring more supply to the […]
COUNTRY’S STRATEGIC CAPABILITY GETS A BIG BOOST By Prakash Chandra The recent launch of India’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),…
