Middle East

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy on the Afghan Affairs, Deng Xijun, and his entourage have held talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi in Tehran.

Iran has lauded the unilateral withdrawal of Yemen’s National Salvation Government troops from the three port cities of Hudaydah, Ras Isa and Saleef as a “constructive move”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has described the Sunday explosions that hit several vessels in the Sea of Oman as “alarming” and “regrettable”, calling for a probe into the incidents.

The United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a number of vessels have been targeted by “sabotage operations” near the territorial waters of the Emirati port of Fujairah.

Several heavy explosions have reportedly rocked the port city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, according to local media.

Following the recent escalation between Washington and Tehran over the 2015 nuclear deal, several countries have expressed readiness to mediate between the two arch-rivals.

Yemen's Houthi forces have started unilateral withdrawal from Saleef and Ras Isa ports in Hudaydah province under a United Nations-sponsored peace deal, a news agency says.

The Iraqi popular mobilization forces, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, have threatened to declare war against the United States if the country targets Iran.

A series of undated recordings have been released by an Israeli media outlet, in which two rabbis from a West Bank religious academy can be heard praising slavery, defending Adolf Hitler’s ideology and making racist comments while speaking about Jewish supremacy.

The deputy head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said the dispatching of nationals to Saudi Arabia’s holy cities for performing the Umrah (minor Hajj) pilgrimage will resume if the kingdom accepts the Islamic Republic’s conditions.

The Iranian president has, in separate messages, congratulated heads of Islamic states on the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan.

Lebanon's foreign minister has posted on his Twitter page the photo of a gift offered to him by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran is pursuing the rule of moderation and rationality in international relations and urges other states to do the same.

Al Jazeera TV's political talk show known as “Scenarios”, which is one of the most important political programs in the Arab world, has defied the insistence of certain Arab leaders on using a fake name for the Persian Gulf.

Palestine says a ceasefire agreement has been reached with Israel, after 25 people were killed in three days of Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza enclave, which were responded to with homemade rockets from Palestinian groups.

Iran’s Ambassador to London says the US will grant waivers to Iraq for economic cooperation with the Islamic Republic if Baghdad signs an oil deal with the US.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman has strongly condemned the Israeli regime's "brutal" attack on the Gaza Strip in the occupied Palestine, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of dozens of Palestinian citizens, including women and children.

The Iraqi intelligence forces have thwarted a major plan by the ISIS terrorists to regroup in the Arab country, a media report says.

The notorious US security firm Blackwater has begun training members of the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq, a new report says.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi has downplayed the Bahraini foreign minister’s seemingly threatening remarks that Iran will not be allowed to close the Strait of Hormuz even for a single day.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa claims Iran will not be allowed to shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz even for one day, warning that if it closes the corridor, it means it is “walking towards the abyss”.

Iran’s defence minister says if it weren’t for Iran’s cooperation, Iraq would have been disintegrated by ill-wishers and enemies of peace and security.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says a US bid to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero is a “pious hope,” warning countries using oil as a weapon about repercussions of further volatility in the global market.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed Washington’s plan to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reiterated his call for the establishment of an inclusive regional forum for dialogue among regional states as the only way out of the current multidimensional crises.