Middle East

Baghdad plans to sign energy contracts worth tens of billions of dollars with Riyadh, the state newspaper Al-Sabaah reported, citing Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar.

The Yemeni forces have arrived at the entrances of the Marib city on different fronts after liberating areas adjacent to the city.

The Saudis know what they don’t want — growing Iranian influence in Lebanon — but they don’t know what to do about it, Joseph Bahout, research director at the American University of Beirut, believes. He stated Riyadh doesn’t want a government with Hezbollah as strong.

An Israeli delegation, which likely included representatives from the Mossad spy agency, has reportedly visited Sudan, and met with military leaders involved in the recent coup in the African country.

The Israeli military launched massive war games on Sunday. The week-long exercise is expected to simulate a full-scale war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

The recent diplomatic crisis between Beirut and Riyadh cannot be resolved through negotiations, Lebanon's top diplomat says. The row began after a Lebanese minister stated Saudi Arabia-led war on Yemen was an act of aggression.

A high-ranking Hezbollah official has stated Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) lives in a state of “dilemma and anxiety” and will have to face a great situation after the fall of Yemen’s Ma’rib.

The Hamas resistance movement has reportedly test-fired new missiles from the besieged Gaza Strip as part of its efforts to increase its combat readiness.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has stated US President Joe Biden can issue an executive order so that Washington could promptly return to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Houthi movement in Yemen has threatened to ban Saudi Arabia's products from entering northern Yemen. The warning comes in response to Riyadh’s boycott on Lebanese products over the remarks of an official in Beirut.

Iran’s former chargé d'affaires to Riyadh says Saudi Arabia and a few like-minded Arab countries pushed to expel Lebanon’s ambassador to Riyadh, seeking chaos in the country.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has condemned Ankara’s decision to extend its troops' deployment in Syria for two more years. The Damascus government has warned the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have become a direct threat to peace and security in region and world.

An explosion near the entrance to the international airport of Yemen’s port city of Aden has killed at least 12 people. Several people were also wounded.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud has described negotiations with Iran as friendly, but confirmed not much progress has been made. Tehran and Riyadh have held four rounds of dialogue so far in order to ease tensions on several issues.

The United Arab Emirates (UEA) has announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Lebanon and advised its citizens not to travel to the country. It follows recent comments made by a Lebanese minister over Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Beirut is hoping to soon calm tensions with the Persian Gulf countries, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Saturday. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, have given Lebanon's envoys 48 hours to leave their countries over comments by a Lebanese minister, slamming Saudi-led war on Yemen.

The European Union (EU) has reiterated its call for Israel to halt its plans to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The bloc has announced any new changes to the pre-1967 borders that are not agreed upon by the parties will be rejected by the EU.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain ordered the expulsion of the Lebanese ambassadors on Friday. The move comes following comments by Lebanon's information minister criticizing Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Turkish army troops have fired heavy artillery rounds at Ain Digna and Bailounieh villages in Syria’s province of Aleppo. The Turkish army is reportedly poised to launch a military operation in the region.

Yemen’s Defense Minister Mohammad al-Atefi has stated the Saudi-led coalition waging war against the country has no choice but to admit defeat . He stressed all occupied areas would soon be restored to the Yemeni sovereignty.

The United States should either deliver the F-35s or return the money Turkey has paid for the military aircraft, Ankara says. Turkey has also announced it could purchase Russian-made SUs instead.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned about the possibility of an arms race between world powers in Asia after the US exit from Cold War-era nuclear weapons deal.

Risks of the escalation of tensions on Syrian territories which are not controlled by the Damascus government are still high, a Russian diplomat warns.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait have summoned Beirut’s ambassadors after Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi called for an end to the Riyadh-led aggression on Yemen. The Saudi-led brutal war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, displaced millions more and thrown the country into the ‘worst humanitarian catastrophe.”

Israel moved forward on Wednesday with plans to build some 3,000 settler units in the West Bank despite strong criticism by the US.