Al-Monitor
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Saudi Arabia’s return to Hormuz puts oil transfer network to the testFor months, Saudi Arabia had been eschewing the Strait of Hormuz, but the kingdom has now resorted to ship-to-ship transfers through the vital waterway.Al-Monitor
Pakistan PM calls Houthi Mecca attacks 'red line' at UNPakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at the UN Friday that further attacks on the Islamic holy city of Mecca would be a "red line" for Islamabad. Pakistan maintains ties with Iran which backs the Houthi fighters responsible for firing missiles at Saudi Arabia where Mecca is situated. But Islamabad is strategically close to Saudi, and entered into a defense agreement with the kingdom, and Turkey, last month.Al-Monitor
Trump, Xi wrap up summit with tea and tour of US archivesBy Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping drank tea at the White House on Friday and visited the National Archives, capping a three-day summit that showcased personal diplomacy rather than big breakthroughs in economic relations.Al-Monitor
Allies unite behind Saudi Arabia as Houthis step up attacksBy Timour Azhari and Hatem MaherRIYADH/CAIRO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold an urgent, high-level meeting under a joint defence pact to discuss ways to support the kingdom amid attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, while Tehran sought to distance itself from the rapid advance of itsHouthi allies.Al-Monitor
Saudi Grand Mufti tells troops to be ready to sacrifice their lives fighting HouthisBy Timour Azhari and Hatem Maher RIYADH, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top religious authority called on soldiers in the kingdom to be ready to lay down their lives to fight the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, a statement posted on the Saudi state news agency said. The rare and strongly worded message by Saudi Grand Mufti SheikhSaleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country's borders and drew heavily on Quranic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Mohammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defence of God.Al-Monitor
US 'must choose' whether to end war: Iran president to Fox NewsIt is for the United States to choose whether to end its war in Iran as Tehran does not wish to continue fighting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday. Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN Wednesday, for which he travelled to New York, telling the world that Iran would not "bend at the knee" to Washington -- even as US President Donald Trump acknowledged ongoing US-Iran talks.Al-Monitor
Gaza suffers world's worst ever economic crisis: UNGaza is suffering the world's worst economic crisis ever recorded, with nine in 10 businesses destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people unemployed, a top UN development agency warned on Thursday. Israel's military offensive sparked by Hamas militants' attack in October 2023 devastated the territory of two million people before a patchy ceasefire was announced in October 2025.Al-Monitor
Yemen says government forces repel Houthi push on key Taiz-Aden routeBy Mohammed Ghobari and Timour Azhari Sept 24 (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces repelled overnight attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on a key supply route to the southern port city of Aden where the internationally recognised administration is based, government sources said on Thursday. The steep, winding mountain pass, known as Hejat al-Abd, is a lifeline for forces fighting on behalf of Yemen's government, which has been hemmed in by a lightning Houthi advance this month linked to the Iran war.Al-Monitor
Norway gives additional $13 million in aid to PalestiniansHELSINKI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Norway's government said on Thursday it will give an additional 125 million Norwegian crowns ($13.17 million) in aid to the occupied Palestinian territories through the United Nations and the World Bank, including public sector budget support. • Norway recognised a Palestinian state in 2024 and chairs the international donor group for the Palestinians. • Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement the need for international support was "greater than ever".Al-Monitor
Ukrainian foreign minister says he discussed keeping tension low with Iranian counterpartSept 23 (Reuters) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday he discussed ways of keeping tension in check at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi. Sybiha said on X the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York was a follow-up to a telephone conversation the two held in July.Al-Monitor
Exclusive-US drafted a memo condemning UK over West Bank sanctions. It was never releasedBy Humeyra Pamuk and Alexander Cornwell WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM, Sept 23 (Reuters) - In early September, US officials in Jerusalem and Washington prepared a draft statement attributed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemning plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.Al-Monitor
Turkey agrees to hand over contentious Bashiqa base to IraqThe planned handover of the Bashiqa base would address one of the most contentious issues in Ankara-Baghdad ties.Al-Monitor
Israeli bulldozers smash Palestinian olive trees ahead of annual harvestDEIR NIZAM, West Bank, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Palestinian villagers wailed over the mangled remains of their olive trees on Wednesday after Israel's military uprooted them with bulldozers, days ahead of the annual olive harvest, normally a source of joy for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Abd Alfattah Tamimi, who owns an olive grove on village land near Ramallah city, watched as a military bulldozer smashed the top of one of his trees and then tore its roots from the ground.Al-Monitor
War weighs on Iran's economy as US intensifies sanctionsBy Eman Abouhassira and Yasmine GhaniaDUBAI/CAIRO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the United States, with the supreme leader calling on the government to address the hardship while the president reported foreign trade has shrunk 35% due to the American sanctions and blockade.Al-Monitor
The Syrian Democratic Forces, tip of the spear in anti-jihadist fightThe Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, whose dissolution was announced by their leader Mazloum Abdi on Tuesday, were the Washington-backed de facto army of the Kurds' autonomous administration in Syria and spearheaded the battle against jihadists. The force was Syria's most highly trained and organised for years, until Washington dropped them for the new US-friendly authorities in Damascus.Al-Monitor
US hits ICC president, senior lawyer with sanctionsThe sanctions come a month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."Al-Monitor
Shipping slows through Strait of Hormuz after tanker attacks, data showsBy Florence TanSINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend.Al-Monitor
UAE says Iran attacked ADNOC vessel in Hormuz, urges waterway's reopeningCAIRO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday Iran had attacked an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.ADNOC said no injuries were reported and that the situation was under control, according to WAM.The UAE foreign ministry called on Tehran to halt what it described as unprovoked attacks, end hostilities and fully reopen the waterway.There was no immediate comment from Iran.Al-Monitor
Trump 'low-key' bets on economic pressure against IranKeeping a low profile doesn't come naturally to Donald Trump. Yet that is the strategy the American president says he now favors in the war against Iran, and he is betting on economic pressure over diplomacy or new strikes. "We are low-keying it," Trump told news site Axios by phone Sunday. "We're only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money."Al-Monitor
Iran says Oman deal is in 'final stages' but US must act to open HormuzBy Nayera Abdallah, Steve Holland and Enas AlashrayDUBAI/WASHINGTON/CAIRO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman defining new shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages but reiterated that the waterway would only reopen once the United States met other conditions.A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could soon reopen the waterway, which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran blocked it in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.Al-Monitor
Trump says new Iran talks set to start after calling off massive attackUS President Donald Trump said that new negotiations with Iran will begin Monday after he decided to hold off on striking the Islamic republic to pursue a deal to end the war entering its sixth month. Trump told reporters on Sunday that the talks would cover the Strait of Hormuz –- a route for global energy supplies that has become a key sticking point in the conflict -- and ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran.Al-Monitor
Trump's on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own wordsDonald Trump has made some of the most aggressive public threats about military action of any modern US president. He has walked back many of them too. The 80-year-old Republican's comments about the US war against Iran have shifted, sometimes dramatically and quickly, since the conflict erupted on February 28. He has repeatedly declared victory, claiming Iran's military capabilities were utterly defeated, only to later tweak the war timeline or threaten Tehran with more strikes.Al-Monitor
Iran threatens to strike other nations' energy fields if US launches fresh attacksBy Yasmine Ghania and Menna AlaaElDinCAIRO, August 2 (Reuters) - Iran warned this weekend against any “adventurous action” by the U.S. and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces follow through on President Donald Trump's threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait's army said it destroyed hostile drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities.Al-Monitor
Explainer-What is US President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace'?By Kanishka Singh and Simon LewisWASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his so-called Board of Peace reached a deal for the total disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Trump said the agreement was "historic" and will be implemented in phases, with Israeli forces, which control about two-thirds of Gaza as of late April, withdrawing from the territory as disarmament proceeds.Al-Monitor
Trump announces areement for disarmament of HamasUS President Donald Trump on Thursday announced an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas, calling it a critical step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza. There was no immediate statement from Hamas on the agreement, but Trump's announcement came after sources familiar with the ongoing talks with mediators in Cairo told AFP that the Palestinian Islamist movement was progressing towards a deal involving the decommissioning of its weapons.Al-Monitor
Netanyahu lauds 'excellent' Trump meeting as Israel pushes harder Iran lineHours before the meeting, President Donald Trump signaled impatience with the Israeli leader.Al-Monitor
Trump says Iran seeks talks after strikes haltedAn Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the two sides have communicated only through intermediaries.Al-Monitor