Category: 2. Middle East

Hardline Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kosari said any closure of the Strait of Hormuz was still under review but no decision has yet been made, in comments carried by Iran’s state media on Monday, Reuters reports.

“Military measures concerning the Strait of Hormuz have been completed, but no decision has yet been made regarding its (closure) and the matter is still under review,” Kosari, a member of the national security committee in the Iranian parliament, was…

Syrian authorities were accused on Tuesday of carrying out “field executions” of civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida, where Israel launched strikes against government forces in what it described as an effort to protect the religious minority.

Damascus had deployed troops to the area after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes killed more than 100 people.

Israel announced its strikes shortly after Syria’s defence minister declared a ceasefire in Sweida city,…

Syrian government forces entered the majority Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people.

The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus’s troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.

A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which…

Israel launched strikes Tuesday against Syrian government forces in the Druze-majority region of Sweida, saying it was acting to protect the religious minority.

Damascus had deployed troops to Sweida after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes killed more than 100 people.

Israel announced its strikes shortly after Syria’s defence minister declared a ceasefire in Sweida city, with government forces having entered the city in the morning.

While most Druze religious leaders supported…

In the shadow of the Grand Egyptian Museum, souvenir shop owner Mona has been readying for the tourist boom she hoped the long-awaited opening would bring — now once again out of reach.

“I had bet everything on this opening,” she told AFP from her shop, just steps from the iconic pyramids of Giza, which the much-anticipated museum overlooks.

Originally scheduled to fully open this month, the museum was expected to attract up to five million visitors annually, fuelling optimism across Cairo’s…

EU foreign ministers on Tuesday will discuss a raft of options for action against Israel over the war in Gaza — but likely will not agree on any.

The bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has put forward 10 potential steps after Israel was found to have breached a cooperation deal between the two sides on human rights grounds.

The measures range from suspending the entire accord or curbing trade ties to sanctioning Israeli ministers, imposing an arms embargo and halting visa-free travel.

But…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to meet his Russian and Chinese counterparts at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting on Tuesday, as Iran seeks to bolster ties with both countries amid the aftermath of last month’s war and persistent US sanctions.

What happened: The SCO Foreign Ministers Council will convene in the northeast Chinese city of Tianjin on Tuesday.

“Foreign ministers of SCO member states will exchange views on SCO cooperation in various areas and major…

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had attacked an Israeli personnel carrier in southern Gaza.

The group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters hit a Tiger model armored personnel carrier with an anti-tank shell, causing casualties among Israeli soldiers in the southern city of Khan Younis.

An Israeli helicopter was seen evacuating injured soldiers from the site, Hamas said.

There was no immediate comment…