March 16th, 20180RIYADH/SANAA — Saudi Arabia and its adversaries in Yemen's armed Houthi movement are holding secret talks to try to end a three-year-old war that has unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, diplomats and Yemeni political sources said.
A Saudi-led coalition is fighting to counter the influence of Riyadh's arch-foe Iran, an...
March 16th, 20180BEIRUT — Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah does not expect its arch foe Israel to launch a war for now in Lebanon but is prepared for one, the deputy leader of the group told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
As the war in Syria enters its eighth year, Sheikh Naim Qassem also said there was no end in sight to the conflict which would...
March 16th, 20180RIYADH — Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if its arch-rival Iran does so, the kingdom's crown prince said in remarks released on Thursday, raising the prospect of a nuclear arms race in a region already riven with conflict.
"Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a...
March 9th, 20180TEHRAN/PARIS — Iran will not negotiate with the West over its presence in the Middle East, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday, a few days after France's visiting foreign minister sought to raise Tehran's role in regional conflicts.
Jean-Yves Le Drian flew to Tehran on Monday with a brief to reaffirm European...
February 23rd, 20180Over the next few weeks, I want to take a look back to February and March of 2003, to those fateful days leading up to the Bush administration's disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq. I remember all too well the lies that were told, the hysteria that was created, the bullying tactics that were used to silence debate and the mass...
February 13th, 20180DAMASCUS - Israel will face “more surprises” should it again attack Syrian territory, Damascus said on Tuesday, after Syria’s air defenses shot down an advanced Israeli warplane during the fiercest flare-up between the old foes in 36 years.
The F-16 jet was hit over northern Israel on Saturday as it returned from a raid on a...
February 9th, 20180DAMASCUS/ANKARA — The leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed on Thursday to meet in Istanbul to discuss the conflict in Syria, a Turkish presidential source said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the meeting in two phone calls on Thursday with the Russian and Iranian presidents, the source said. The date of the summit...
ROME — Italy and Iran signed a framework credit agreement on Thursday to fund investments worth up to 5 billion euros ($6.02 billion) in Iran, Italy's Economy Ministry said.
The deal was signed between two Iranian institutions, Bank of Industry and Mine and Middle East Bank, and the investment arm of Italian state-owned holding...
January 12th, 20180PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron stressed to President Trump in a telephone call on Thursday the importance of abiding by a nuclear deal with Iran ahead of a decision by the U.S. president that could reinstate sanctions on the country.
"The president ... recalled France's determination in favor of a strict application of the...
January 5th, 20180Huge pro-government rallies sweep major Iranian cities where tens of thousands of supporters waved Iranian flags and pictures of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as placards saying "death to seditionists."
TEHRAN — Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief announced the "end of the sedition" Wednesday as hundreds of thousands...
January 3rd, 20181PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said it was important to maintain dialogue with Iran, warning that the tone of comments adopted by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia toward Tehran was virtually a path to war.
“The official line pursued by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are our allies in...
January 3rd, 20180BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Wednesday played down protests in Iran as economic discontent, saying they were not rooted in the political issues which spurred huge numbers to demonstrate in 2009 and were expected to end soon.
“In Iran there is nothing to worry about and the issue is being taken...
January 1st, 20180DUBAI — Anti-government demonstrations continued for a fifth day in Iran on Monday, after 10 people were killed during the biggest protests since the pro-reform unrest of 2009.
Video posted on social media showed crowds of people, some chanting “Death to the dictator!”, walking through the streets.
The Fars news agency...
December 22nd, 20170ASTANA — U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday he would take part in the latest round of Syrian peace talks in the Kazakhstan capital Astana on Friday, with a month to go before he hopes to break the deadlock in political talks in Geneva.
Delegations from the Syrian government and some opposition groups are...
December 15th, 20170By Mary Turfah
Last Wednesday, Donald Trump announced his plans to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as recognition, against that of the world, of Israel's right to Jerusalem as its capital.
But the idea that Trump has "endangered" the peace process is misleading because it presupposes the existence of...
December 8th, 20170On Wednesday, Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East condemned the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as an incendiary move in a volatile region and Palestinians said Washington was abandoning its leading role as a peace mediator.
The European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at President Trump's decision to...
December 4th, 20170SANAA - Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in a roadside attack on Monday after switching sides in Yemen’s civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favor of a Saudi-led coalition, foes and supporters said.
Analysts said Saleh’s death would be a huge moral boost for the Houthis and serious blow to the...
December 2nd, 20170GENEVA — The Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva on Wednesday to participate in another round of U.N.-sponsored peace talks to bring an end to the Syrian Civil War, now in its seventh year.
All the previous rounds of U.N.-backed peace talks have failed to reach a peace deal, and have often been seriously hindered by the...
December 2nd, 20170TEHRAN — This week, Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei called on the country's military leaders to expand the country's naval capabilities, the Iranian media reported. In a meeting with senior Navy commanders in Tehran, Khamenei said the Navy should boost its assets and capabilities both in terms of military gear and combat...
November 28th, 20170PARIS — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Monday that the political and militant group Hezbollah must stop interfering in regional conflicts and accept a neutral policy to bring an end to Lebanon’s political crisis.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which forms part of the Lebanese government, is fighting alongside Syrian...
November 27th, 20170BEIRUT — A breakthrough in U.N.-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva this week seems hardly more likely than in seven failed earlier rounds as President Bashar al-Assad pushes for total military victory and his opponents stick by their demand he leave power.
U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said on Monday the Syrian government had...
November 24th, 20170DUBAI- Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.
The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi‘ite Iran back rival sides in wars and political...
November 21st, 20170BEIRUT - Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia and plunged his country into political crisis.
Hariri’s sudden resignation on Nov. 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose...
November 21st, 20170BEIRUT - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared the end of Islamic State on Tuesday while a senior military commander thanked the thousands of martyrs killed in operations organized by Iran to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq.
“Today with God’s guidance and the resistance of people in the region we can say that this...
November 18th, 20170PARIS - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week for Independence Day.
Hariri’s resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it center-stage in the Middle East’s overarching...
November 17th, 20170By Patrick J. Buchanan
If the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has in mind a war with Iran, President Trump should disabuse his royal highness of any notion that America would be doing his fighting for him.
Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, the 32-year-old son of the aging and ailing King Salman, is making too many enemies for his own good,...
November 15th, 20170BEIRUT - France said on Wednesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who Lebanon’s president says is being held hostage by Saudi Arabia, will visit France with his family in coming days.
Hariri travelled to Riyadh on Nov. 3 before abruptly resigning in a televised statement a day later. He has stayed in Riyadh and top...
November 14th, 20171By Farah Harb
The Arab American News – intern
LEBANON - As speculations continue to surface in the wake of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri's resignation on Nov. 4, there is still no answer to the questions, what's next for Lebanon and who are the potential parties involved in the equation?
From Riyadh, Hariri said he's...
