Archives for January, 2023

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Analysis

Israel’s Netanyahu seeks Saudi ties, but is normalization within reach?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking full diplomatic relations, but Saudi Arabia looks unlikely to embrace normalization in the near future.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: January 20, 2023, 3:29 pm

US to designate Russia’s Wagner Group as transnational criminal organization

The Russian mercenary group has been accused of war crimes from Syria to Libya, the Central African Republic and Ukraine.

Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images

Turkey summons Swedish ambassador over planned Quran burning

A far-right Swedish politician's planned Quran-burning protest has heightened tensions between Turkey and Sweden.

Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021

Europeans to quiz Lebanon central bank chief: official

Agence France-Presse

Bernard Phelan was arrested in October while travelling and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran

French-Irish citizen held in Iran suspends hunger strike: sister

Agence France-Presse

Indian Air Force (IAF) Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet takes part in an air refueling exercise from a French Air and Space Force (FASF). Russia is reportedly mulling sale of Sukhoi fighter jets to Iran. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran leans on Russia, hopes for Sukhoi sale as EU pressure mounts

Tehran is increasingly boosting its military ties with Moscow, hoping for Sukhoi sale, amid dim prospects for the revival of the nuclear deal and a wave of fresh sanctions over its crackdown on dissent at home.

OPEC Fund Director General - Abdulhamid Alkhalifa

OPEC Fund raises $1 billion via sustainability bond

Gulf states in the organization are showing increasing interest in funding projects related to the environment, renewable energy and green technology.

Independent Lebanese lawmakers Najat Saliba (front L) and Melhem Khalaf (back 3rd L) during a sit-in at the parliament in Beirut

Lebanese MPs sleep in parliament to press for end to impasse

Agence France-Presse

Official yellow taxis and van vehicles wait for their customers at the Eminonu district in Istanbul, on March 30, 2018. (Photo credit OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Istanbul taxi problem pits Gulf tourists against Turkey's locals

Turkish people have long blamed Arab tourists’ generous tips for the city’s cab shortage, but this may not be the case anymore.

A protester holds a portrait depicting the slain top commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani while praying, during an anti-German demonstration condemning Germany's support of Berlin-based Iranian opposition TV stations and anti-government protests in Iran, outside the German embassy headquarters in Iran's capital Tehran on November 1, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran top official threatens EU militaries as IRGC terror designation looms

Europe’s ties with the Islamic Republic have been worsening since the anti-government protests began in Iran last year.

ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP via Getty Images

In restive Iran-Iraq border area, support for firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr holds strong

Al-Monitor traveled to Iraq’s impoverished southeast, known for drug smuggling and militia violence, to explore the continued support there for the Sadr movement.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: January 20, 2023, 3:38 pm

Drone attack hits Tanf US base in Syria

The normally quiet al-Tanf base occupies a remote stretch of the Baghdad-Damascus highway on Syria's southern border with Jordan and Iraq.

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Knesset member Aryeh Deri of the Shas party during a session to elect the new speaker of the assembly at its Plenum Hall, Jerusalem, Dec. 13, 2022.

Top Israeli court ruling forces Netanyahu to sack ally

The Supreme Court left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu little choice but to fire his longtime ally Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud attends a session at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 17, 2023.

Saudi FM says no normalizing ties with Israel before Palestinian issue resolved

Following the normalization deal between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, talks have increased about more Arab countries joining the initiative; Saudi Arabia is on hold for now.

Actors perform in a production of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', in war-torn Yemen's southern city of Aden

Shakespeare in Yemen: tragedy offers respite from war

Agence France-Presse

Fallen stars: Cristiano Ronaldo and PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas feel the pain after clashing on Thursday

Ronaldo punched but scores twice in Saudi reunion with Messi

Agence France-Presse