Middle East Experience

The third UN envoy to Yemen is about to leave his post without any tangible peace progress on the ground in Yemen, as Oman continues its quiet mediation efforts.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Can Oman help mediate peace in Yemen?

The Syrian opposition is divided over activating the role of tribes in the coalition, as some believe this would be in favor of figures close to Turkey and would help it dominate the opposition institutions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Turkey promotes tribal role in Syrian opposition institutions

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates June 29-30 in the first ever Israeli ministerial visit to the country.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: New Israeli government jumps to deepen ties with Emirates, Bahrain

Relations between Jordan and Israel deteriorated dramatically under outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rebuilding them won't be easy.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel, Jordan try to rebuild ties, trust after Netanyahu

Iran said on Wednesday the United States had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping, although Germany cautioned that major issues remained at talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.The Iranian remarks, by outgoing President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff, echoed previous assertions by officials in Rouhani’s pragmatist camp that Washington is prepared to make major concessions at the talks, under way since April in Vienna.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The talks adjourned on Sunday for a break, two days after Iran held a presidential election won by hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian judiciary chief who is on a US blacklist. Raisi is due to replace Rouhani in August.“An agreement has been reached to remove all insurance, oil and shipping sanctions that were imposed by (former US President Donald) Trump,” Rouhani’s chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.Like other Western and Iranian negotiators who have said the talks remain a long way from conclusion, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday that Tehran and the powers still had to overcome significant hurdles.“We are making progress but there are still some nuts to crack,” Maas told a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Maas said a deal was possible even after the election of Raisi, an implacable critic of the West.US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday there was still “a fair distance to travel,” including on sanctions and on the nuclear commitments that Iran has to make to salvage the tattered deal.Iran agreed in 2015 to curbs on its uranium enrichment programme, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Trump abandoned the agreement three years later, calling it flawed to Iran’s advantage, and reimposed harsh sanctions that hammered Iran’s economy.Tehran responded by violating some enrichment limits, while continuing to insist that it has no nuclear arms ambitions.Iranian and Western officials alike say Raisi’s ascendancy is unlikely to alter the Islamic republic’s negotiating position, as clerical Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei already has the final say on all major policy.Vaezi said the United States had agreed to take some senior Iranian figures off a blacklist.“About 1,040 Trump-era sanctions will be lifted under the agreement. It was also agreed to lift some sanctions on individuals and members of the supreme leader’s inner circle.”US President Joe Biden’s administration aims to restore the deal, but the sides disagree on which steps need to be taken and when to defuse mutual suspicions and ensure full compliance.But some Iranian officials have suggested Tehran may prefer an agreement before Raisi takes office to give the new president a clean slate and avoid blame if problems subsequently arise.Read more:Iran says US websites seizure ‘not constructive’ for nuclear talksIran vote points to consolidation of hardline clergy’s hold on power: AnalystsSaudi Arabia’s FM and IAEA chief discuss Iran’s nuclear program
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran’s outgoing president says US to lift oil sanctions, Germany cautious on matter

Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Infectious Diseases adopts the possibility of taking two different COVID-19 vaccines for the first and second dose, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Health announced Wednesday.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The country’s National Committee for Infectious Diseases’ decision was according to international scientific studies that showed the possibility of giving two doses of two different COVID-19 vaccines “safely and effectively in response to the virus, with the effectiveness of which the second dose aims to achieve,” the Ministry of Health said.The Kingdom reported 1,253 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising the total to 478,135 cases.The death toll rose by 13 to 7,716.The Ministry of Health reported 1,043 new recoveries, bringing the total to 459,091.Read more:‘No effort spared’: Study hails Saudi Arabia’s COVID-19 vaccination driveSaudi Arabia reports 1,479 COVID-19 cases, 12 deaths
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia adopts possibility of taking different COVID-19 vaccinations for doses

The expo is inviting visitors from across the planet to join the making of a new world..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Expo 2020 Dubai: Burj Khalifa to light up to mark 100 days to the event

A van containing smuggled subsidized heavy fuel oil was confiscated in Chadra village on June 9, a statement from the Internal Security Forces said Wednesday, as residents suffer from weeks long gasoline shortages that has brought more instability to the country..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Internal Security Forces confiscate black market fuel

Iran will decide whether to extend its monitoring deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA after its expiry on June 24, Iranian state TV’s news website quoted presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi as saying on Wednesday.“It has been decided that after the expiration of the agreement’s deadline, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (will) decide about the agreement’s extension at its first meeting,” Vaezi said, according to the website.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog reached a three-month accord in February - which was extended on May 24 for a month - to cushion the blow of Tehran’s decision to reduce its cooperation with the IAEA by ending extra monitoring measures introduced by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.Last week, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said in remarks published in La Repubblica that reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear accord will have to await the formation of a new Iranian government.Read more:Iran’s outgoing president says US to lift oil sanctions, Germany cautious on matterIran says US criticism of election is interference in its affairsIran’s foreign policy will not be limited by 2015 nuclear deal: Raisi
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran to decide whether to extend IAEA monitoring deal after expiry on June 24

Libya’s foreign minister voiced hopes that foreign mercenaries will pull out of the North African country in the next days, after “progress” was made at a new round of peace talks in Berlin on Wednesday.“We have a progress in terms of mercenaries, so you know hopefully within coming days, mercenaries from both sides (are) going to be withdrawing and I think this is going to be encouraging,” said Najla al-Mangoush following talks gathering world powers.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.According to the UN, more than 20,000 foreign mercenaries and military personnel are still in Libya. They include Turkish, Russian, Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries.Unlike the Russian mercenaries who supported the authorities in the east of the country, Turkey says its troops sent to Tripoli were sent under a bilateral agreement with the government, implying that they are not affected by a request for foreign troops to leave.The fear that armed groups will leave Libya to deploy in the region was again raised by several Security Council members, who recalled the recent destabilization in Chad that led to the death of its president Idriss Deby.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Libya’s foreign minister cites progress on mercenaries pull out in Berlin talks