Archives for June, 2021

International humanitarian aid trucks cross into Syria's northwestern Idlib province through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2020.

Biden administration not trading Syrian oil for aid corridors with Moscow

The Biden administration said Syrian oil is for the people of Syria, not for the United States.

Qatar's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs receives a copy of the credentials of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Qatar Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan Al-Saud.

Saudi Arabia has ambassador in Qatar again

The ambassador is Saudi Arabia's first to serve in Qatar since the resolution of the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

Police guard the Grand Hotel on the day the JCPOA Iran nuclear talks are to resume on May 25, 2021, in Vienna, Austria.

Iran wants 'guarantee' US will not leave nuclear deal again

One Republican senator said the United States would need to ratify the Iran nuclear agreement as a treaty to be able to provide such an assurance.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) meets with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Cairo, Egypt, May 25, 2021.

Egypt burying hatchet with Qatar

Egypt-Qatar relations have been improving in recent months, with the two countries settling most disputes that marred their relationship since 2013.

The photo appears to show the Dubai ruler's daughter, Princess Latifa, vacationing in Spain.

Photo appears to show UAE Princess Latifa in Madrid amid house arrest claims

Princess Latifa has alleged in secret video recordings that her family is holding her captive and she fears for her safety.

United Arab Emirates

A man holds HDP flags as members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) take part in a protest against the detention of HDP members, in Istanbul, on Sept. 25, 2020.

Top Turkish court accepts revised indictment to ban pro-Kurdish party

Turkey’s Constitutional Court on Monday accepted a case seeking the closure of the nation’s second-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), after a top prosecutor revised and resubmitted an indictment alleging members collude with terrorists.

SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images

Northeast Syrian authorities close down Kurdish news outlet

Tensions are running high between Kurdish political parties in the region following clashes in neighboring Iraq.

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his first press conference in the Islamic republic's capital Tehran, on June 21, 2021.

Iran's new president rules out meeting with Biden

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi suggested he would continue President Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policies.

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his first press conference in the Islamic Republic's capital, Tehran, on June 21, 2021.

Iran’s president: No talks with US on militias, ballistic missiles

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi called on the United States to rejoin the nuclear deal.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Raisi says Iran will prioritize improving regional relations

The president-elect said Iran wants "interaction with the world" and called on US President Joe Biden to lift all sanctions.

In this handout image supplied by Qatar 2022, this artist's impression represents Qatar Foundation Stadium. Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Qatar to require World Cup spectators be fully vaccinated

The four-week World Cup tournament will hold all of its matches in full stadiums.

Israeli alternate prime minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrives to chair the first weekly cabinet meeting of his new government in Jerusalem, on June 20, 2021.

Israeli foreign minister Lapid to visit Emirates next week

Yair Lapid will be the first Israeli minister to visit the United Arab Emirates, as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned trip earlier this year fell through.

Yahya Sinwar (C), Hamas' political chief in Gaza, attends a rally organized by the representatives of prominent families (mokhtar) in support of "the Palestinian resistance" in Gaza City, on June 20, 2021.

Palestinian leadership looks to engage Israel, US as Hamas’ popularity climbs

Amid an uptick in popular support for Hamas following recent confrontations in East Jerusalem and the Israel-Hamas war, Fatah and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah are looking for ways to stay relevant.

Palestinian police bomb squad

Gaza bomb squad handles ordnance with scant equipment

The Gaza Strip's bomb squad is working with severely limited resources to neutralize the deadly ordnance left behind after the latest Israel-Gaza fighting.

Opposition fighters belonging to Ansar al-Islam and Ahrar ash-Sham walk on a street next to the frontline that divides rebel and regime-controlled areas in the Tadamon neighborhood, south of Damascus, and near the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, Syria, June 15, 2015.

Does Kurdish jihadist group threaten Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in north Syria?

Ansar al-Islam is a Kurdish Salafist and jihadist group operating in the Kurdistan mountains in northern Iraq all the way to Latakia in Syria, fighting against the Syrian government.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Islamic State revives religious police in northeast Syria

The Islamic State's religious police are back at work in the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.