Middle East

Erbil complies with Iran-Iraq security deal: Barzani

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Nechervan Idris Barzani made the remarks in a meeting with the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Ale-Sadegh on Monday. 

Emphasizing the importance of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Barzani said that Iran is an important neighbor for the Kurdistan region.

“The Kurdistan region adheres to the security agreement between Iran and Iraq, and Iran must be sure that we will not allow the security of this country to be threatened from within this region”, he added. 

Ale-Sadegh, for his part, appreciated the officials of the Kurdistan region of Iraq for providing facilities to the pilgrims of Arbaeen earlier this month.

He also emphasized the implementation of security agreements and the strengthening and expansion of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq, as well as constructive dialogue and interaction between the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the federal government of the country.

Erbil complies with Iran-Iraq security deal: Barzani

Ale-Sadegh also met and held talks with Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani and is scheduled to meet with Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Democratic Party of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Earlier on Sunday, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Bafel Jalal Talabani, arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran, leading a high-level delegation from his party.

Recently, Qasim al-Araji, the national security adviser of Iraq, said in a speech that Baghdad is making a lot of efforts to implement the provisions of the security agreement with Iran.

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Israeli protesters scuffle with police outside justice minister’s home

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Israeli police disperse protesters as they block the entrance to the residence of Justice Minister Yariv Levin in Modiin, September 11, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli demonstrators flooded the streets outside the residence of the hawkish justice minister on Monday, scuffling with the police.

Regime troops moved to control the crowds outside Yariv Levin’s home in Modiin.

The major grievance of the anti-regime demonstrators has been the highly controversial judicial overhaul scheme presented by the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The roughly 200 demonstrators blew horns, chanted through megaphones against the regime and brandished signs.

Six people were arrested on charges of disrupting public order and blocking roads.

After a few hours, Levin left his besieged home in a sleek black car surrounded by security guards who tried to clear a path for him through the swarm of protesters.

Israel is facing its worst domestic political crisis in years.

The protests have seen the 36th straight week.

Proponents of the plan say it helps redistribute the balance of power between the politicians and the judiciary. Its opponents, however, accuse Netanyahu of trying his hand at a power grab.

The prime minister is on trial on several counts of corruption charges. He is said to be attempting to use the scheme to quash possible judgments against him.

The far-right cabinet has already passed one of the scheme’s bills through the Knesset, which removed the court’s power to strike down the cabinet’s decisions or appointments on the basis of being “unreasonable.”

The supreme court, for the first time in its history, will convene its entire 15-judge bench on Tuesday, September 12, to hear an appeal against that bill.

Middle East

Assembly condemns opening of Israel embassy in Bahrain

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“The opening of the embassy of the criminal Zionist regime in Bahrain is an inappropriate act that is considered a clear example of betrayal of the holy cause of Palestine,” a statement issued by the Islamic Awakening Assembly on Monday read.

The statement further considered the Al-Khalifa regime’s action as an ill-considered action that would only help the Zionist regime to live a little bit longer.

“In a situation where the Zionist terrorist regime is in a state of destruction and is suffering from an existential crisis and facing collapse from within, the act could serve the occupying regime,” the Assembly further said.

“More than 80% of Bahrainis are against any normalization of relations with Zionist criminals. Also, the opening of an embassy in Manama will definitely put the Bahraini rulers  in trouble in the near future and will endanger the security infrastructure and national interests of the country and the entire region,” it further read.

The assembly further described the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime as “failed project” that could not bring any legitimacy to the regime.

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Middle East

Barzani pledges Kurdistan region's commitment to Iran-Iraq security agreement

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Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Ale-Sadeq (L) and President of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani meet on September 11, 2023. (Photo by IRNA)

The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, says the semi-autonomous region is committed to a security agreement between Iran and the Arab country and will allow no one to pose a threat to Tehran.

Barzani made the remarks in a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Ale-Sadeq on Monday.

He stressed the importance of relations with Iran as an important neighbor for Iraq’s Kurdistan region.  

Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement that includes coordination in protecting the border between the two countries in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on March 19.

Anti-Iranian terrorist groups residing in the Iraqi Kurdistan region have increased their malign activities, especially in border areas.

Responding to the activities, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched several rounds of airstrikes against their positions since September 24 last year, vowing to continue the attacks till the groups are unarmed.

Iran has, on countless occasions, warned the Iraqi Kurdistan’s local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a hub of anti-Islamic Republic terrorists.

Ale-Sadeq, for his part, called for the implementation of the Iran-Iraq security agreement and the promotion of mutual relations as well as constructive dialogue and interaction between Tehran and Erbil.

The ambassador also lauded great efforts by Kurdish authorities in the Kurdistan region to facilitate the Arba’een mourning ceremony, the largest annual religious gathering in the world.

During the meeting, Barzani and Ale-Sadeq also discussed the latest developments in the region and issues of common interests.

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Clashes rock Sudan ceasefire as UN official seeks aid protection

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Fighting between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has continued despite the declared extension of a ceasefire, as a senior United Nations official arrived in the country for talks on providing relief to millions of trapped civilians.

The visit by top UN humanitarian official Martin Griffiths on Wednesday comes a day after neighbouring South Sudan announced that the warring sides had agreed “in principle” to a seven-day ceasefire.

Deadly violence broke out on April 15 between Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commands the regular army, and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or Hemedti, who commands the RSF.

At least 550 people have been killed and 4,926 wounded, according to Wednesday’s latest health ministry figures, which are likely to be incomplete.

Multiple hospitals have been hit, humanitarian facilities looted and foreign aid groups forced to suspend most of their operations. Tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries in an exodus that has sparked warnings of a humanitarian “catastrophe” with implications for the entire region.

Reporting from Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said intense fighting had continued throughout the morning, with witnesses reporting a powerful explosion near the presidential palace and clouds of smoke rising from the area in the capital.

“It looks as though the Sudanese army is trying to regain control over the presidential palace. The two sides have been fighting around its vicinity. Fighter jets have been launched, not just near the presidential palace, but also around other parts of Khartoum,” said Morgan.

Fierce clashes were also reported near the state broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, while explosions and anti-aircraft guns were also heard in the city of Bahri, north of Khartoum.

Meanwhile, Griffiths arrived in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast on an urgent mission to find ways to bring relief to the millions of Sudanese who are unable to flee.

“We will still require agreements and arrangements to allow for movement of staff and supplies,” he told reporters via video link from Port Sudan.

Experts had earlier stressed the importance of economic aspects of Raiesi’s visit to Damascus, noting that increased economic cooperation would help confront the Western-imposed sanctions on both states.

The US has imposed rounds of crippling sanctions on Damascus. Parts of the restrictive measures have been imposed under the so-called Caesar Act, an American piece of legislation that purports to target the Assad government, despite sharp criticisms that the bans affect civilians.

The US also restored its sanctions against Tehran after unilaterally leaving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), three years after its conclusion. The US, under former president Donald Trump, launched what it called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran at the time, targeting the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” sanctions.

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Iran’s Raeisi, Syria’s Assad ink long-term strategic cooperation agreement

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Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Republic of Syria have singed an agreement on “long-term strategic comprehensive cooperation” between the two countries.

The two presidents held a meeting earlier in the day in Damascus, highlighting the importance of Iran-Syria’s long-term cooperation plan for advancing the interests of the two nations and other countries in the region.

The two presidents inked 14 documents in various areas, including trade, oil and energy, engineering, housing, rail and aerial transportation, free trade zones, communications and technology, earthquake reliefs, and facilitation of pilgrimage to the holy sites for the people of the two Muslim nations.

No further details about the agreements were immediately available.

Experts had earlier stressed the importance of economic aspects of Raiesi’s visit to Damascus, noting that increased economic cooperation would help confront the Western-imposed sanctions on both states.

The US has imposed rounds of crippling sanctions on Damascus. Parts of the restrictive measures have been imposed under the so-called Caesar Act, an American piece of legislation that purports to target the Assad government, despite sharp criticisms that the bans affect civilians.

The US also restored its sanctions against Tehran after unilaterally leaving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), three years after its conclusion. The US, under former president Donald Trump, launched what it called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran at the time, targeting the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” sanctions.

Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Raeisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday. The visit is the first by an Iranian president since the foreign-backed militancy gripped the Arab country in 2011.

In the meeting with Assad on Wednesday, Raeisi noted that Iran will stand by its Syrian brothers in the post-war era of reconstruction as was the case during the fight against terrorism.

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Israeli media on Raeisi’s Syria visit: Victory for resistance, defeat for Israel

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Reactions continue to pour in from Israeli media after Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi’s visit to Syria, with Israeli analysts saying the strategic visit was “an achievement” for the resistance axis and “a weakness” for the Tel Aviv regime.  

General Amos Gilead, a retired Israeli general officer who served, among other roles, as head of the Military Intelligence Research Division, said in a radio interview that “The Iranians now feel that Israel is weakened.”

Raz Zimmt, a leading Israeli expert on Iran, also described the visit as “an influential issue,” adding that apart from the conclusion of important economic agreements between the two sides, everything else would be an “achievement” for the resistance front.

A military correspondent for the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot also described the visit as a “lost opportunity” for the occupying regime.

“Missed opportunity: Today, the president of Iran will travel to Syria. A major response to Gaza was not only necessary, but an excellent opportunity to restore the damaged deterrence on the northern front; But the opportunity was lost, which means that the work is not managed properly,” he said.

The reactions come following Raeisi’s interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network on Tuesday, during which he pointed out that his upcoming trip to Syria would be aimed at further enhancement of the countries’ “strategic and important” relations.

During the interview, Raeisi discredited the Israeli regime’s threats against the regional resistance front, saying the regime was incapable of meeting even its own “internal security” demands, not to mention taking on the resistance.

Iran, he affirmed, has not and will not regret supporting the regional resistance front in the face of the occupying regime’s aggression.

Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, the Iranian president arrived in Syria upon an official invitation by his Syrian counterpart on Wednesday.

He was greeted at Damascus International Airport by Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

He was later welcomed by President Assad in an official ceremony in the People’s Palace.

The visit is the first by an Iranian president since the foreign-backed militancy gripped the Arab country in 2011.

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Fighting continues in Sudan despite truce extension

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Fighting continues in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum despite rival factions’ agreement on Thursday to extend a ceasefire for 72 hours, raising concerns over intense violence in coming days.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday reiterated it would extend the truce and said it would honor it unilaterally.

In response to the army for the first time, the Rapid Support Force (RSF) said on Thursday it too approved another 72-hour truce starting Friday.

The United Nations, the African Union, African trade bloc IGAD and the so-called quad countries of the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and UAE, welcomed the development.

“We also welcome their readiness to engage in dialogue toward establishing a more durable cessation of hostilities and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access,” they said in a joint statement.

The SAF claimed it controls most of Sudan’s regions and is defeating a large RSF deployment in Khartoum, where some residential areas have turned into war zones.

Despite the truce, sounds of Sudanese fighter jets, air strikes and anti-aircraft fire were heard as they targeted paramilitary positions in Khartoum, according to witnesses.

Residents of Omdurman, Khartoum’s neighboring twin city, described “the worst day” yet as neighborhoods were pummeled by repeated airstrikes.

So far, at least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 wounded by the fighting since 15 April, according to the Sudanese health ministry.

According to experts, the situation in Sudan could worsen at any moment, with intense violence in the days to come.

A 72-hour truce was announced on Monday night, bringing relative calm brought to Khartoum and creating an opportunity for the peaceful evacuation of foreigners stuck within the war-torn country.

The doctors’ union in the country announced that at least eight civilians lost their lives in the conflicts on Wednesday despite the truce. It also said that more than two-thirds of hospitals in the country were out of service, including 14 that had been struck during the fighting.

The World Food Programme has warned that the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where one-third of the population, around 15 million people, are in need of aid.

Abdou Dieng, UN aid chief in Sudan, speaking from Port Sudan on Thursday, said he was “extremely worried about the situation”, with food supplies a huge concern.

The fighting has pitted the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, head of the paramilitary RSF, which emerged from the militia that the Omar al-Bashir government unleashed in Darfur.

Burhan and Daglo seized full power in a 2021 coup, but have now fallen out and gone to war, hurtling Sudan into deeper turmoil.

The fighting, which has involved airstrikes and artillery exchanges. The deadly chaos has reduced some districts of greater Khartoum to ruins. There have been multiple truce efforts by various countries to end the fighting but to no avail.

International Middle East

Iran seizes fleeing oil tanker which hit vessel, leaving two missing in Sea of Oman

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The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman and directed it toward the country’s territorial waters after the ship hit an Iranian vessel and tried to flee in violation of maritime regulations.

According to the public relations department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the foreign vessel collided with an Iranian fishing craft in the Persian Gulf late on Wednesday.

A number of crew members of the Iranian ship sustained injuries as a result of the impact, and two are still missing.

The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker then attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require provision of medical treatment and the supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.

Recovering from the shock, the fishermen managed to issue a distress call.

The Iranian naval forces, deployed to Chabahar Port in southern Iran on a Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) mission, shortly after intercepted and seized the foreign ship in the Sea of ​​Oman after having been contacted by the Maritime Surveillance and Rescue Center (MRCC).

The vessel was seized by Bayandor corvette of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in compliance with a confiscation order issued by Iranian judicial authorities.

Middle East

Iran FM says to meet Saudi counterpart soon

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In a press conference with journalists on Sunday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian answered a question on the recent agreement on the restoration of ties between Tehran and Riyadh, saying, “In the political relations with the neighbors, in the middle of this Iranian year of 1401 (which ends on March 20), the relations of the two neighboring countries of the UAE and Kuwait with the Islamic Republic of Iran were enhanced to the level of ambassadors, and in the past days, we witnessed the return of Iran and Saudi Arabia relations to normalcy. We had held five rounds of security talks with Saudi Arabia in Baghdad, and during Mr. Raeisi’s trip to Beijing, the President of China had already proposed an initiative, which had been approved by the heads of state of Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

He said that in the exchange of messages, the Saudi side stressed the need for a round of high-level security negotiations between the two countries, so as a result, the person introduced by the Saudi side and the counterpart of Rear Admiral Shamkhani and a team consisting of security departments, the military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied Mr. Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart [in the talks.]”

He emphasized, “I will meet with the Saudi Foreign Minister in the near future, until now we have agreed that the technical delegations from both sides will visit the embassies and consulates general and provide practical preparations for the reopening of the embassies.”

The foreign minister said that Iran considers the issue of Yemen to be completely an issue related to the Yemenis, adding, “This is an issue that the Yemeni parties should decide on. Of course, the emphasis on peace, stability and sustainable security in the region has been one of the issues agreed upon by Tehran and Riyadh in these talks.”

This item is being updated…

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