Category: 2. Middle East

Iran’s right to enrich uranium is not negotiable, Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said on Wednesday, ahead of a second round of talks in Oman this weekend with the United States about Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, Reuters reports.

Araqchi was responding to a comment made on Tuesday by the US top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, who said Tehran must “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment” to reach a deal with Washington.

“We have heard…

The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran for talks.

Western countries including the United States have long suspected Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.

“It’s like a puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they could eventually put them together,”…

Germany today warned Israel against the permanent occupation of Gaza after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his troops will indefinitely remain in so-called “security zones” in the enclave.

“The German government clearly rejects a permanent occupation of Gaza and a permanent expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. Gaza belongs to the Palestinians,” Christian Wagner, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said at a press briefing in Berlin.

“It…

Egypt’s armed forces possess the advanced Chinese air defence system HQ-9B, Israeli media has reported, which is similar to the Russian S-400 missiles.

According to the Israeli news website nziv, retired Major General Samir Farag, a military expert and former head of the Egyptian Armed Forces’ Morale Affairs Department, confirmed during a televised interview on Sada El-Balad TV channel that Egypt owns various modern defence systems, including the…

The Kuwaiti army announced that the project to integrate women into the armed forces has reached its final stages, as part of ongoing efforts to modernise and develop the military.

Lieutenant General Pilot Sabah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, deputy chief of the general staff, stated during a meeting with several military leaders on Monday that Kuwaiti women are capable of making meaningful contributions across various military sectors. He stressed the importance of…

Iraq’s parliament has officially designated Halabja as the country’s 19th province, granting full administrative status to a region long defined by the trauma of Saddam Hussein’s chemical attack in 1988. The vote, passed on Monday with support from 178 lawmakers across political blocs, ends over a decade of political deadlock.

“This is a legal and moral obligation,” said Second Deputy Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah. “The fall of the tyrant began with the…

Israel announced Wednesday it had converted 30 percent of Gaza into a buffer zone as it pressed its unrelenting military offensive, vowing to maintain its blockade on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered security chiefs and negotiators to keep pressing for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, where Israel resumed air and ground attacks on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

The United Nations said an estimated 500,000…

Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a “mass grave”, a medical charity reported.

Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip from March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.

However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing…

The Senegal Alliance for the Palestinian Cause announced yesterday that it will continue organising Senegalese protests this week against the genocidal war waged by Israel for over 560 consecutive days against the indigenous Palestinian people.

This announcement comes as a result of the recent expression of anger in Dakar, as thousands of Senegalese broke their silence, carrying slogans of anger and solidarity with the Palestinian people, and denouncing what they…