Iran agrees to stop arming Houthis in Yemen as part of deal with Saudi Arabia — Wall Street Journal report

A part of the guidance system to an Iranian Qiam ballistic missile on display in 2017 after then-US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley unveiled previously classified information intending to prove provided arms to Houthis. (AFP/File)
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Updated 16 March 2023
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Iran agrees to stop arming Houthis in Yemen as part of deal with Saudi Arabia — Wall Street Journal report

  • Tehran’s move would hasten new efforts to achieve peace in Yemen, put pressure on the militant group to reach deal to end conflict
  • UN-sponsored truce last year lasted only six months after the Houthis rejected calls for de-escalation, extension to ceasefire

DUBAI: Iran has agreed to stop sending weapons to its Houthi allies in Yemen as part of a deal to re-establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia that was brokered by China, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported, quoting US and Saudi officials.

Tehran’s move would hasten new efforts to achieve peace in Yemen, as it could put pressure on the militant group to reach a deal to end the conflict. A UN-sponsored truce in the country last year lasted only six months after the Houthis rejected calls for de-escalation and an extension to the ceasefire.

Tehran publicly denies that it supplies the Houthis with weapons, but UN inspectors have repeatedly traced seized weapons shipments back to Iran.

After last week’s rapprochement gestures by Saudi Arabia and Iran, officials from both countries said Iran would press the Houthis to end attacks on Saudi Arabia, the WSJ report noted.

Saudi Arabia expects Iran to respect a UN arms embargo meant to prevent weapons from reaching the Houthis, the report quoted a Saudi official as saying, and diminish the group’s ability to launch against the Kingdom and gain more ground in Yemen.

The agreement to resume Saudi-Iran relations “gives a boost to the prospect of a [Yemen] deal in the near future,” while Iran’s approach to the conflict will be “kind of a litmus test” for the success of last week’s diplomatic deal, according to a US official quoted by WSJ.

Hans Grundberg, the special UN envoy for Yemen, flew to Tehran this week to discuss with officials on how end the Yemen war and then on to Riyadh. Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assured the UN diplomat that Tehran was ready to do more to help end the conflict in Yemen.

Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy to Yemen, also met with Saudi officials in an attempt to jumpstart peace talks.

Saudi Arabia and Iran also agreed to re-open their embassies and missions within two months, and affirmed ‘the respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-interference in internal affairs of states.’

The warming up of Saudi-Iran relations was widely welcomed by the global community, with the European Union, in a statement, noting: “As both Saudi Arabia and Iran are central for the security of the region, the resumption of their bilateral relations can contribute to the stabilization of the region as a whole.”


Recognized, independent Palestinian state could unlock disputed gas wealth, expert says

Updated 10 sec ago
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Recognized, independent Palestinian state could unlock disputed gas wealth, expert says

  • Gas was discovered in 2000 in the Gaza Marine field
  • Michael Barron, author of “The Gaza Marine Story,” estimates field could generate $4 billion in revenue at current prices

LONDON: Official recognition of a Palestinian state would end legal ambiguities over the Gaza Marine gas field and secure the Palestinian Authority’s right to develop its most valuable natural resource, according to energy expert Michael Barron.

Barron, author of “The Gaza Marine Story,” estimates the field could generate $4 billion in revenue at current prices, with the PA reasonably earning $100 million annually for 15 years, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

“The revenues would not turn the Palestinians into the next Qataris or Singaporeans, but it would be their own revenue and not aid, on which the Palestinian economy remains dependent,” he said.

Gas was discovered in 2000 in the Gaza Marine field, a joint venture between BG Gas and the Palestinian Consolidated Contractors Co.

Despite initial hopes of ending energy shortages in the Gaza Strip, the project has been repeatedly stalled over ownership disputes, lack of sovereignty, and political instability.

“The Oslo Accords agreed in 1993 clearly give the Palestinian National Authority jurisdiction over territorial waters, the subsoil, power to legislate over oil and gas exploration and to award licenses to do so,” Barron said.

“Control over natural resources was an important element of (the) state-building agenda of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli exploitation of Palestinian resources was and remains a central part of the conflict,” he added.

Israel has historically blocked development over concerns that revenue could reach Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. An Israeli court once ruled the waters a “no-man’s water” due to the PA’s lack of sovereignty, and Israel has long claimed any license 20 miles off the Gaza coast should be seen as a gift, not a right.

Barron said that if Palestine were recognized as a state, particularly by countries where major oil firms are based, it would “effectively end the legal ambiguity” and allow the PA to develop the field and achieve energy independence from Israel.

A separate controversy has emerged over Israeli-issued gas licenses in a disputed area known as Zone G.

Lawyers acting for Palestinian human rights groups recently warned Italian energy firm Eni not to proceed with exploration, saying “Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired any such rights.”

Eni has since told Italian campaigners that “licenses have not yet been issued and no exploratory activities are in progress.”

Activist group Global Witness also argues the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline, which passes through waters claimed by Palestine, is unlawful and does not provide any revenue to the PA.

The 56-mile pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt for export.

The issue has gained new attention following a UN report by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

She warned corporations of their potential legal liability for supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, citing international court rulings.

Her report concluded companies have a “prima facie responsibility ‘to not engage and/or to withdraw totally and unconditionally from any associated dealings with Israel, and to ensure that any engagement with Palestinians enables their self-determination.’”

Israel has rejected the report in full.

Barron argues that, with Israel now self-sufficient in gas, “so long as a Palestinian state with unified governance is recognized, Israel will have no motive or legal right to block Palestine exploiting its single greatest natural resource.”


Gaza civil defense says Israeli fire kills 73 aid seekers

Palestinians who were injured while seeking food at a distribution point in Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip.
Updated 2 min 19 sec ago
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Gaza civil defense says Israeli fire kills 73 aid seekers

  • At least 67 were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while six others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory on Sunday, killing 73 people and wounding dozens more.
At least 67 were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while six others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier.
The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire” near Gaza City, soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints.
Israel’s military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat posed to them” as thousands gathered near Gaza City.
Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centers.
The UN said earlier this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys.
In Gaza City, Qasem Abu Khater, 36, told AFP he had rushed to try to get a bag of flour but instead found a desperate crowd of thousands and “deadly overcrowding and pushing.”
“The tanks were firing shells randomly at us and Israeli sniper soldiers were shooting as if they were hunting animals in a forest,” he added.
“Dozens of people were martyred right before my eyes and no one could save anyone.”
Civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll was 67 and expected to rise while the WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as “completely unacceptable.”
“Israeli forces’ gunfire” was responsible for the deaths in the south, he added.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.
The army has maintained that it works to avoid harm to civilians, saying this month that it issued new instructions to its troops on the ground “following lessons learned” from a spate of similar incidents.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 58,895 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday expressed his regret to Pope Leo XIV after what he described as a “stray” munition killed three people sheltering at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.
At the end of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, the pope slammed the “barbarity” of the Gaza war and called for peace, days after the Israeli strike on the territory’s only Catholic church.
The strike was part of the “ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” he added.
“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations.”
The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, held mass at the Gaza church on Sunday after traveling to the devastated territory in a rare visit on Friday.
Most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war and there have been repeated evacuation calls across large parts of the coastal enclave.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military told residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area to move south immediately.
Israel was “expanding its activities” against Hamas around Deir el-Balah, “where it has not operated before,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
The announcement prompted concern from families of hostages held since October 7, 2023 that the Israeli offensive could harm their loved ones.
Delegations from Israel and militant group Hamas have spent the last two weeks in indirect talks on a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.


Jordanian Armed Forces down 310 drug-laden drones over 7 months

Updated 20 July 2025
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Jordanian Armed Forces down 310 drug-laden drones over 7 months

  • Jordanian military seizes 14.1 million narcotic pills, 92.1 kg of illegal drugs, and over 10,600 slabs of hashish
  • Traffickers used unconventional methods to smuggle drugs, including toy-like balloons with remote navigation

LONDON: The Jordanian Armed Forces have intercepted 310 drug-carrying drones and thwarted multiple smuggling attempts over the past 197 days, according to military data, as they work to protect national security.

From January to July 16, the armed forces intercepted an average of 51 drones each month, nearly two per day, all carrying narcotics destined for Jordanian territory, according to an investigative report by the Jordan News Agency, or Petra.

The Jordanian military seized over 14.1 million narcotic pills, 92.1 kg of illegal drugs, and more than 10,600 slabs of hashish over the past six months, with a street value amounting to tens of millions of US dollars.

Petra reported 69 smuggling attempts and infiltration operations by traffickers, who used weapons and unconventional methods to smuggle drugs, including toy-like balloons with remote navigation. However, these were detected and downed by the armed forces. One balloon was found carrying crystal meth.

In another incident, border personnel tracked a projectile from Syrian territory, which was found to be packed with narcotics, including 500 grams of crystal meth, reflecting the complex threats facing Jordan.


Iran says replaced air defense systems damaged during Israel war

Pictures of children killed in Israeli airstrike a Chamran residential complex, which killed at least 60 people on June 13.
Updated 20 July 2025
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Iran says replaced air defense systems damaged during Israel war

  • Israel launched an unprecedented surprise bombing campaign against Iran in mid-June, prompting Tehran to respond with drone and missile attacks

TEHRAN: Iran has replaced the air defense systems damaged during its 12-day war with Israel last month, a senior army general said on Sunday according to state media.
Israel launched an unprecedented surprise bombing campaign against Iran in mid-June, prompting Tehran to respond with drone and missile attacks.
Israel’s strikes dealt a significant blow to the Islamic republic’s air defenses, which were repeatedly activated in the capital Tehran and across the country throughout the war.
“The Zionist enemy sought to destroy Iran’s defense capabilities, and some of our defense systems were damaged in that war,” army operations chief Mahmoud Mousavi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
“The damaged defense systems have now been replaced,” he added.
Iran’s air defense network includes systems like the domestically built Bavar-373 and Khordad-15, designed to counter missiles and aircraft. Iran also installed Russia’s S-300 air defense systems in 2016.
The war with Israel killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, while Iranian fire killed at least 28 people in Israel, according to authorities in each country.
Israel’s attacks targeted military infrastructure and nuclear facilities across Iran.
On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States also carried out unprecedented strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The full extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program remains unclear.
US President Donald Trump has insisted the sites were “completely destroyed,” but US media reports have cast doubt on the severity of the damage.
On Friday, NBC News, citing a military damage assessment, reported that only one of the three sites was mostly destroyed.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in effect since June 24.
After the truce was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear capabilities, raising the prospect of renewed conflict.
Earlier in July, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was formulating a plan to “ensure that Iran cannot threaten Israel again.”
Katz said the military had to maintain its “air superiority over Tehran, the ability to enforce restrictions on Iran and prevent it from rebuilding its capabilities.”


Iranians told to use less water as heatwave worsens shortages

Updated 20 July 2025
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Iranians told to use less water as heatwave worsens shortages

  • Iranian authorities have urged residents to limit water consumption as the country grapples with severe shortages amid an ongoing heatwave, local media said Sunday

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have urged residents to limit water consumption as the country grapples with severe shortages amid an ongoing heatwave, local media said Sunday.
Water scarcity is a major issue in Iran, particularly in arid provinces in the country’s south, with shortages blamed on mismanagement and overexploitation of underground resources as well as the growing impact of climate change.
On Saturday, the national meteorological service said Iran was experiencing its hottest week of the year so far, with temperatures exceeding 50C in some areas.
“People should conserve water to avoid drops in pressure,” said Tehran city council chair Mehdi Chamran, according to the ISNA news agency.
Authorities across Iran have issued similar appeals in recent days, asking residents in several provinces to limit water usage.
Tehran’s provincial water management company called to reduce usage by “at least 20 percent” to help ease the shortages.
In a statement, it said that “the reservoirs of the dams supplying water to Tehran are currently at their lowest level in a century” following years of steady decline in rainfall.
Javan, a conservative newspaper, reported on Saturday that authorities had reduced water pressure in parts of the capital in a bid to mitigate the crisis, resulting in “water outages lasting between 12 and 18 hours” in some areas.