Tag Archives: Mideast
Trump pullout from Iran deal signals Mideast strategic shift
US President Donald Trump’s rejection of an accord curbing Iran’s nuclear activities and the escalation in hostilities between Iran and Israel that followed herald a new strategic dynamic in the Middle East that has heightened fears of greater conflict. While Europe is leading efforts to save the nuclear deal with Tehran, Iran’s regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia both are behind Washington. “The result is a coalition that rather goes against their nature,” said Denis Bauchard, Middle East expert at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) in Paris.
Pence still to head to Mideast despite govt shutdown threat
US Vice President Mike Pence will still head to the Middle East late Friday for a high-stakes trip, despite the threat of a federal government shutdown looming over Washington, his spokeswoman said. “The vice president’s meetings with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and Israel are integral to America’s national security and diplomatic objectives,” his press secretary Alyssa Farah told AFP. A US official said the decision would not be changed no matter what happens Friday on Capitol Hill, where Republicans and Democrats must reach a deal before midnight to avoid a partial shutdown of federal government services.
Across the Mideast, Palestinians brace for Trump aid cuts
SHATI REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) — Mahmoud al-Qouqa can't imagine life without the three sacks of flour, cooking oil and other staples he receives from the United Nations every three months.
Pence postpones Mideast trip to mid-January, citing tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Monday postponed his trip to Egypt and Israel until mid-January, citing the need to preside over the Senate on a sweeping tax overhaul. His decision came amid an uproar in the Middle East over the Trump administration's decision to designate Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
US recognition of Jerusalem a 'bomb' in the Mideast: Erdogan
The decision by US President Donald Trump to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel is a “bomb” thrown at the entire Middle East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday. Erdogan, who has sought to steer often disunited Muslim nations into a coordinated response on the issue, said Muslims would never accept the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The US step is a “new bomb thrown into the lap of the Middle East,” Erdogan said in an address marking the opening of a new metro line in Istanbul.
On Mideast trip, Putin orders partial withdrawal from Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Monday for the last leg of a day-long diplomatic dash, during which he ordered the partial withdrawal of Russia’s troops from the war-torn country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Putin at his presidential complex in Ankara for a closed-door meeting. This is the eighth face-to-face meeting between Putin and Erdogan this year, a sign of the intensity of a relationship that had hit rock bottom in November 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian war plane over Syria.
Unrest erupts in Mideast after Trump's Jerusalem decision
'Day of Rage' erupts in Mideast after Trump's Jerusalem decision
Hezbollah says Kurdish vote a step toward wider Mideast partition
The powerful Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Saturday that an Iraqi Kurdish independence vote marked a first step toward the partition of the Middle East, warning that this would lead to “internal wars” and must be opposed. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Iran-backed group, said events in northern Iraq, where Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence on Monday, were a threat to the whole region and not just Iraq and neighboring states with Kurdish populations. “It will open the door to partition, partition, partition,” Nasrallah said.
Mideast sees ‘worrying’ rise in HIV cases: UN
A sharp rise in new HIV infections in the Middle East and North Africa is a worrying trend, despite some positive developments, UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe told AFP on Friday. While the epidemic remains very "concentrated" within the region, with homosexuals, sex workers, migrants and drug addicts comprising the vast majority of cases, the Arab world has seen a dramatic increase in new cases in recent years.
