Middle East diplomacy - Page 20

Israel in 2012 considered “leaking” that it would use a military base in Saudi Arabia as a springboard to launch an airstrike against Iran as part of its efforts to counter the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, according to the latest batch of leaked emails released by WikiLeaks on Saturday.

(REUTERS) – U.S. President Barack Obama and his top foreign policy advisers are expected to meet on Friday to consider their military and other options in Syria as Syrian and Russian aircraft continue to pummel Aleppo and other targets, U.S.

The Palestinians said Thursday they are sounding out members of the U.N. Security Council on a new resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement building and on prospects for becoming a full member of the United Nations.

JAFFA, Israel — Major security preparations are underway in Saudi Arabia, according to Arab media reports, in light of the hazy political and security situation in the region.

The Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah vowed to maintain its “jihad” in neighboring Syria at a huge rally in Beirut on Wednesday, a day after its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the war was in a phase of escalation.

A Syrian opposition website has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to create a situation that is more beneficial to his own interests even as he takes advantage of the time he has left before the “lame duck” in Washington is replaced and that “it is clear to Putin that the next administration will take a much tougher stance against the Kremlin.”

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday the Middle East was in a phase of escalating tension and there appeared to be no prospect of a political solution to the war in Syria.

An international medical aid agency is pleading for access to treat the wounded in the eastern, rebel-held parts of Syria’s Aleppo even as government forces press on with their offensive to retake that part of the city.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russia had the means to protect its assets in Syria if the United States decided to carpet bomb the Syrian government’s military air fields.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken by phone to US Secretary of State John Kerry in a bid to calm Washington’s anger over new Israeli settlement plans, an official said Sunday.

As Egypt braces for austerity reforms, the military has expanded its economic role, at times helping President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assuage the impact of rising prices on the country’s poor.

Russia on Saturday vetoed a United Nations draft resolution demanding an end to the bombing of Syria’s war-battered city of Aleppo.

JAFFA, Israel — The leader of a pro-Iran militia in the Gaza Strip has lauded Iran’s “unremitting support” for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura offered on Thursday to go to eastern Aleppo and escort up to 1,000 Islamist fighters out of the city for the sake of a halt to the bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to convene its ambassadorial appointment committee on October 27, with the main agenda item being the appointment of Israel’s next ambassador to Turkey.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart resumed discussions on Syria on Wednesday despite a US decision earlier this week to suspend direct talks with Moscow on trying to end the conflict.

Iraq and Turkey on Wednesday were summoning their respective ambassadors in an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the two neighbours ahead of a planned operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from jihadists.

Saudi Arabia is conducting live-fire drills during war games underway in the Gulf, official media said on Tuesday, as tensions simmer with Iran.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged the Iranian government during his two-day visit to the Islamic Republic to do what it can to push for a ceasefire in Syria.

Already testy, relations between the United States and Russia plummeted Monday as Washington suspended diplomatic contacts with Moscow over failed efforts to end the war in Syria and President Vladimir Putin put on hold a deal with the US on disposing weapons-grade plutonium.

Germany wants to help Iran push ahead with reforms, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday, adding he believed the Islamic Republic was a reliable credit partner as he courted closer trade ties.

Turkish police on Sunday detained a brother of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who is accused of masterminding the failed July coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state media said.

Iran has rejected outright the demand of Germany’s economy minister that it recognize Israel as a precondition for full normalization of ties between Berlin and Tehran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shook hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the funeral of former president Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on Friday.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders shook hands during a brief chat and U.S. President Barack Obama gently reminded them of the “unfinished business of peace” at the funeral Friday of Shimon Peres, the last of a generation of Israel’s founding fathers.

World leaders, dignitaries and royalty from 70 countries attended the state funeral of Israel’s ninth president, Shimon Peres, in Jerusalem on Friday. They joined thousands of Israelis and Peres family members to pay their last respects to the Nobel Peace Prize winner who died aged 93 on Wednesday.

Syrian government forces continued their push into rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Thursday as international officials issued dire warnings of an ongoing humanitarian disaster in Syria’s largest city.

The United Nations’ top officials joined with Israel’s envoys to the world body for a ceremony commemorating Israel’s former president, Shimon Peres, who died Wednesday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shook hands and exchanged brief words at the funeral on Friday of Shimon Peres, the former Israeli leader who won international acclaim for peacemaking with the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON — Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton paid tribute to former president Shimon Peres Thursday and said she told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their Sunday meeting she would defend Israel as president.

President Barack Obama lifted off from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday en route to Israel to attend the state funeral Friday of former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

Former US President Bill Clinton paid his respects to former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Peres immediately after landing in Israel on Thursday, viewing the late statesman’s coffin where it lay in state at the Knesset.

Bahrain’s foreign minister paid tribute to Israel’s former president Shimon Peres on Thursday, in a surprise statement that drew strong Arab criticism on social media.

Police on Wednesday issued hasty traffic notifications across Jerusalem as security services prepared for the arrival of dozens of foreign heads of state, ministers and public figures making their way to Israel to attend the funeral ceremony in the capital on Friday of former president Shimon Peres, who died early Wednesday morning at the age of 93.

A top Syrian opposition official has expressed hope that the next US administration will show more resolve than Obama’s.

Saudi social media users have been divided over President Barack Obama’s decision to veto a Congressional bill that would allow relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government for reparations.