Americas

The Biden administration has issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer six billion dollars in blocked Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar with no concern about Washington's sanctions.

A multinational rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia will be announced on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, a White House official has confirmed.

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are expected to announce a joint infrastructure agreement at the Group of 20 summit as part of Washington’s efforts to balance China’s influence in the region, Axios reported.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said that US, Israeli and Saudi leaders have put many of the elements of a pathway to normalization on the table but there is still much work to do.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has discussed opening roads to Karabakh so that cargos could be delivered to region, the press service of the Azerbaijani President reported.

The United States and Armenian militaries will hold joint exercises later this month, with special emphasis on peacekeeping operations, Yerevan has announced. Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

The United States complained to Israel this weekend about Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's decision to publicly reveal a secret meeting with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush, Axios has reported, citing Israeli and US officials.

Washington has accused Moscow of attempting to intimidate and harass American employees after Russian state media reported that a former US consulate worker was charged with collecting information on the war in Ukraine on behalf of Washington.

Qatar is balancing its relationships with both the US and China, and that one link does not damage the other, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has stated.

Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will become new members of BRICS, a correspondent with Brazil’s UOL news portal reported on Thursday citing a draft final statement of the group’s summit. Brazil is a BRICS member state.

An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying Iranian crude oil began offloading its cargo near Texas late Saturday, tracking data shows. Tehran has previously warned against any move to discharge the cargo.

A group of 26 US Republican lawmakers slammed the Biden administration’s cash-for-prisoner agreement with Iran on Friday, demanding an explanation for the potential “sidestepping of Congress” to pursue the accord.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to head the country’s delegation at the United Nations General Assembly high-level week 2023. A decree naming the members of the delegation was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US President Joe Biden and his administration remain undecided on a seized Iranian oil tanker that has been stuck off a port in Texas for more than two months. It comes as the US lawmakers are pressing for an offloading of the vessel despite threats of retaliation from Tehran.

The Iran-US prisoner exchange of five jailed Americans will be hosted by Qatar next month, according to a report by the UK-based Amwaj Media.

More than a dozen human rights organizations penned a letter to United States President Joe Biden, urging Washington to press the Bahraini authorities to immediately release Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, a prominent rights activist.

The family of a prominent political prisoner, who is a permanent US resident in Egypt, has condemned the Biden administration, accusing it of abandoning him after the prisoner informed his family that he is facing death while in detention.

The United States has begun preparing for a new pandemic by searching for virus mutations, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian armed forces, said on Wednesday.

The United States is pushing Iran to stop selling combat drones to Russia as part of discussions on a broader unwritten understanding between Washington and Tehran to de-escalate tensions, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter. Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly refuted reports about the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine.

Governor of the US State of Florida and the Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has voiced strong criticism against President Joe Biden’s handling of Tehran, accusing him of succumbing to "Iran’s tactics of blackmail and extortion".

The administration of US President Joe Biden is in active negotiations with Iran to bring home five jailed Americans released on house arrest in anticipation of a reported prisoner exchange and the release of $6 billion in Iran’s oil revenue.

The United States had encouraged the Pakistani government in March 2022 to remove former Prime Minister Imran Khan from office over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a classified Pakistani government document obtained by The Intercept.

A delegation of the US House Democrats will visit Israel and the occupied West Bank this week to discuss prospects for a two-state solution, Israel's judicial reforms and Iran nuclear program, among other issues.

US lawmakers have questioned whether Washington should continue security coordination with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Some politicians have blamed it on the deteriorating security situation in the occupied West Bank.

Palestine's ties with the United States are at the lowest level as Washington fails to pressure Israel to stop its actions against Palestine, a senior official has said.