Browsing: Region
Iran’s Secretary of the National Security Council, Ali Larijani meets with Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, in Muscat, Tuesday. Iran’s top security official met the Sultan of Oman in Muscat Tuesday, days after a first round of talks there between officials from Washington and Tehran last Friday. Ali Larijani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq “discussed the latest developments in the Iranian-American negotiations”, the official Oman News Agency said. Larijani also met Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated Friday’s indirect talks between US and Iranian officials, according to photos shared on Larijani’s official Telegram channel. Larijani and Sultan Haitham also explored “ways to reach a balanced and just agreement between the two sides, and emphasised the importance of returning to the table of dialogue and negotiation”. While in Muscat, Larijani warned against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervening in the talks, according to a post on X. He urged the US to “remain alert” to what he described as Israel’s destructive role ahead of Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, it said. During his trip to Muscat, Larijani also met Mohammed Abdulsalam, the spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi fighters. Larijani will head to Qatar next, according to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. The trip comes after Iran and the US resumed negotiations in Oman on Friday for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June, which was briefly joined by the US military. Related Story Source link
Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria’s decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering…
Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa Israeli forces killed four fighters in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops, Israel’s military said. It described the attack on Israeli troops as a violation of the US-brokered ceasefire with the Palestinian Hamas group that went into force in Gaza last October and said it views it with the “utmost gravity.” Israel has responded to similar incidents in recent months by carrying out air strikes across the enclave in which dozens of people have been killed.There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but some sources close to the group identified one of those killed as Anas Annashar, the son of a former senior Hamas politician. Dozens of Hamas fighters have been trapped in tunnels under Rafah since the ceasefire, and some have since been killed in clashes with Israeli forces.In a separate incident, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian farmer in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. Israel did not immediately comment on the incident. Violence has repeatedly shaken the ceasefire and the two sides have traded blame over truce violations as Washington presses them to proceed to the next phases of the ceasefire deal, meant to end the conflict for good. The next phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan calls for resolving complex issues such as Hamas disarmament, which the group has long rejected, a further Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. The Gaza health ministry said at least 580 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was agreed. Israel says four soldiers had been killed by fighters in Gaza over the same period. The Gaza war started with the October 2023 Hamas storming of southern Israel. The death toll in Gaza now stands at over 71,000, according to Palestinian health ministry data. Source link
Bedouins gathers their goats on February 9, 2026, after residents of the town or Arraba, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, were allegedly ordered…
Iran could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for all financial sanctions being lifted, its atomic chief said Monday, one of the most direct indications so far of its position at talks with Washington.US and Iranian diplomats held talks through Omani mediators in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after US President Donald Trump positioned a naval flotilla in the region raising fears of new military action.The talks follow a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Iran last month when thousands of people were killed, the biggest domestic unrest since the 1979 Revolution.Trump joined an Israeli bombing campaign last year and hit Iranian nuclear sites. He also threatened last month to intervene militarily during the protests but ultimately held off.Washington has demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile — estimated last year by the UN nuclear agency at more than 440kg — of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Eslami, said Monday: ‘The possibility of diluting 60% enriched uranium… depends on whether, in return, all sanctions are lifted or not’.Eslami, whose remarks were reported by Iran's ISNA news agency, said however that another proposal, sending Iran's highly enriched uranium abroad to another country, had not been discussed at the talks with US officials.Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and secretary of its national security council, will visit Oman Tuesday following the US-Iranian talks there, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.’During this trip, (Larijani) will meet with high-ranking officials of the Sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral cooperation at various levels,’ Tasnim said.The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that a new round of talks would be ‘an appropriate opportunity for a fair and balanced resolution of this case,’ and that a desired outcome could be reached if the US avoids maximalist positions and respects its commitments.Iran would continue to demand the lifting of sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights including enrichment, he said.Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran.Since Trump struck Iran's facilities, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activity. It has always said its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.The US wants to include Iran's ballistic missile arsenal in negotiations, but Tehran has ruled this out.In a televised statement aired Monday, Khamenei called on Iranians to participate in the coming anniversary of the Revolution.’The presence of the people in the march and their expression of loyalty to the Islamic Republic will cause the enemy to stop coveting Iran,’ Khamenei said. Source link
The death toll from the collapse of residential buildings in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 15 after search and rescue operations ended, Lebanon’s National News Agency said Monday citing the civil defence chief. Civil defence director general Imad Khreiss said rescue teams rescued eight people from the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the northern city’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood. Officials said on Sunday that two adjoining buildings had collapsed. Abdel Hamid Karimeh, head of Tripoli’s municipal council, said he could not confirm how many people remained missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s civil defence rescue service said the two buildings were home to 22 residents. A number of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, citing municipal officials. Karimeh said the issue of unsafe buildings in Tripoli was longstanding and driven by multiple factors, including construction violations, years of disorder, weak oversight and a lack of regular maintenance, partly linked to restrictive rent control laws that discourage owners from investing in repairs. He said many buildings in the city were between 60 and 70 years old and had exceeded their structural lifespan without undergoing essential maintenance, increasing the risk of collapse. The problem, he added, exceeded the capacity of the municipality and residents alone, calling for direct state intervention. Authorities have begun providing temporary shelter to displaced families, while Lebanon’s Higher Relief Committee is offering housing allowances for up to three months, Karimeh said. He added that charities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and international organisations were co-ordinating to provide assistance, saying the aim was to secure a minimum acceptable level of support for affected households. Related Story Source link
Children watch as war-wounded Palestinians and other patients prepare to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and…
At least 13 people were killed after an old building collapsed in the Bab al-Tabbaneh area of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, while nine survivors have been rescued so far. Rescue teams continue to search for the remaining missing persons under the rubbleLebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that rescue teams are working around the clock in an effort to reach any survivors in the collapsed building. This incident comes just two weeks after another building collapsed in Tripoli, highlighting the dangers of old buildings in the city and the urgent need for authorities to take measures to ensure safety Source link
Iranian authorities have arrested 11 members of an outlawed Kurdish group on suspicion of committing acts of sabotage, state television said yesterday. The arrest of the 11 alleged members of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) – considered a terrorist group in Iran – comes in the wake of mass anti-government protests last month. Since its formation in 2004, the PJAK – an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – has staged operations against the Iranian military. The 11 people arrested in west Iran were “in direct contact with PJAK elements, seeking to launch sabotage actions and to disturb the population’s security”, the Fars news agency said. “They were identified and arrested before they were able to commit the act,” it added, citing Mohsen Karimi, a regional commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Both the governments of Turkiye and the United States also consider the PJAK to be a terrorist organisation. Source link
Several Saudi companies signed a series of strategic contracts with Syrian government entities in Damascus on Saturday, aiming at strengthening the path of economic cooperation between the two countries. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the agreements covered an array of vital sectors, notably aviation, communications, infrastructure, in addition to several developmental initiatives.Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih affirmed that the signed agreements mark a new phase in the path of economic cooperation between the two countries, supporting shared interests and enhancing opportunities for sustainable growth. Al Falih explained that these projects will contribute to developing Syria’s strategic infrastructure, expanding quality investment opportunities across several vital sectors, supporting economic development, creating jobs, and stimulating private-sector participation. He reiterated Riyadh’s commitment to continuing support for investment partnerships that promote stability and prosperity in both countries. Source link