First vessel hit by Yemen’s Houthis in two weeks arrives in Djibouti, manager says

Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa. (File/AP)
Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa. (File/AP)
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Updated 05 August 2024
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First vessel hit by Yemen’s Houthis in two weeks arrives in Djibouti, manager says

Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen.
  • The attack is the first since an apparent lull following Israel’s attack on Hodeidah, which occurred a day after a drone launched by the group hit Tel Aviv

ATHENS: A container vessel that was hit by the Houthis off Yemen on Saturday in the first such attack in two weeks, has arrived safely in Djibouti and the strike caused no injuries or water ingress, its Greek manager said on Monday.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Sunday that they targeted the Liberia-flagged MV Groton in the Gulf of Aden with ballistic missiles, claiming their first attack on shipping lanes since Israel carried out a retaliatory airstrike in Hodeidah port on July 20.
The MV Groton was hit by a missile 60 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen, while en route from Dubai to Jeddah, Conbulk Shipmanagement Corporation said in a statement. After the strike, it was diverted to Djibouti where it arrived on Sunday, the company said.
“No injuries nor pollution have been reported and there is no water ingress caused by the hit,” the company said, adding that the safety of the crew was a top priority.
“Full evaluation of the damage will be made ... followed by the necessary repairs.”
Following the strike, fire broke out in the cargo holds that were hit and in containers on the main deck, the company said. The blaze was extinguished by the crew.
The attack is the first since an apparent lull following Israel’s attack on Hodeidah, which occurred a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed group hit Israeli economic hub Tel Aviv.
The Houthis have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The attacks have drawn US and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.


Syrian president to make first official visit to Kuwait 

Syrian president to make first official visit to Kuwait 
Updated 5 sec ago
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Syrian president to make first official visit to Kuwait 

Syrian president to make first official visit to Kuwait 

CAIRO: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa  will make his first official visit to Kuwait on Sunday accompanied by an official delegation. 

“Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, accompanied by an official delegation, is due to arrive in Kuwait on Sunday,” read a statement on KUNA News Agency. 

Earlier this month, sources close to Al-Sharaa have reported that the Syrian president was planning a strip to the gulf state in the end of May. 

On his gulf tour, Al-Sharaa had visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

On his trip to Kuwait, the Syrian president will meet the Kuwaiti leadership to discuss ways to boost bilateral relations.     

 


Iran considers nuclear weapons ‘unacceptable’, FM says

Iran considers nuclear weapons ‘unacceptable’, FM says
Updated 12 min 36 sec ago
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Iran considers nuclear weapons ‘unacceptable’, FM says

Iran considers nuclear weapons ‘unacceptable’, FM says
  • Iran has held five rounds of talks with the United States in search of a new nuclear agreement
  • Western governments have long suspected Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability

TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran considers nuclear weapons “unacceptable,” reiterating the country’s longstanding position amid delicate negotiations with the United States.
Western governments have long suspected Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability to counter widely suspected but undeclared arsenal of its arch-foe Israel.
“If the issue is nuclear weapons, yes, we too consider this type of weapon unacceptable,” Araghchi, Iran’s lead negotiator in the talks, said in a televised speech. “We agree with them on this issue.”
Iran has held five rounds of talks with the United States in search of a new nuclear agreement to replace the deal with major powers President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The two governments are at odds over Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which Washington has said must cease but which Tehran insists is its right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Nonetheless, Trump said Wednesday that “we’re having some very good talks with Iran,” adding that he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against striking its nuclear facilities as it would not be “appropriate right now.”
Israel has repeatedly threatened military action, after pummelling Iranian air defenses during two exchanges of fire last year.
Trump has not ruled out military action but said he wants space to make a deal first, and has also said that Israel, and not the United States, would take the lead in any such strikes.


Israel strike on south Lebanon kills one

Israel strike on south Lebanon kills one
Updated 31 May 2025
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Israel strike on south Lebanon kills one

Israel strike on south Lebanon kills one
  • The Israeli army said the strike killed a regional commander “of Hezbollah’s rocket array"

BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike killed one person in the south on Saturday despite a six-month-old ceasefire, as Israel said it targeted a Hezbollah militant.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said a man was killed when an Israeli drone targeted his car as he was heading to pray at a mosque in Deir Al-Zahrani, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon despite the November 27 truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of open war.
The Israeli army said the strike killed a regional commander “of Hezbollah’s rocket array.”
It charged that during the conflict, the operative “advanced numerous projectile attacks... and was involved recently in efforts to reestablish Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure” in south Lebanon.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon but it has kept troops in five areas it deems “strategic.”
The Lebanese army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.


Syrian Kurdish commander in touch with Turkiye, open to meeting Erdogan

Syrian Kurdish commander in touch with Turkiye, open to meeting Erdogan
Updated 31 May 2025
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Syrian Kurdish commander in touch with Turkiye, open to meeting Erdogan

Syrian Kurdish commander in touch with Turkiye, open to meeting Erdogan

BEIRUT: The commander of Kurdish forces that control northeast Syria said on Friday that his group is in direct contact with Turkiye and that he would be open to improving ties, including by meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
The public comments represented a significant diplomatic overture by Mazloum Abdi, whose Syrian Democratic Forces fought Turkish troops and Ankara-backed Syrian rebels during Syria’s 14-year civil war.
Turkiye has said the main Kurdish group at the core of the SDF is indistinguishable from the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which decided earlier this month to disband after 40 years of conflict with Turkiye.
Abdi told regional broadcaster Shams TV in an interview aired on Friday that his group was in touch with Turkiye, without saying how long the communication channels had been open.
“We have direct ties, direct channels of communication with Turkiye, as well as through mediators, and we hope that these ties are developed,” Abdi said. There was no immediate comment from Turkiye on Abdi’s remarks.
He noted his forces and Turkish fighters “fought long wars against each other” but that a temporary truce had brought a halt to those clashes for the last two months. Abdi said he hoped the truce could become permanent.
When asked whether he was planning to meet Erdogan, Abdi said he had no current plans to do so but “I am not opposed... We are not in a state of war with Turkiye and in the future, ties could be developed between us. We’re open to this.”
The Al-Monitor news website reported on Friday that Turkiye had proposed a meeting between Abdi and a top Turkish official, possibly Turkiye’s foreign minister or its intelligence chief.
A Turkish diplomatic source denied the report, saying “the claims about Turkiye and our country’s authorities” in the story were “not true,” without elaborating.
In December, Turkiye and the SDF agreed on a US-mediated ceasefire after fighting broke out as rebel groups advanced on Damascus and overthrew Bashar Assad.
Abdi in March signed a deal with Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to incorporate the semi-autonomous administration of northeast Syria into the main state institutions based in Damascus.
On Thursday, Erdogan accused the SDF of “stalling” implementation of that deal.
In the interview, Abdi denied accusations that the SDF was in contact with Israel.
“People have accused us of this. In this interview, I am saying publicly that we have no ties with Israel,” he said.
But he said his group supported good ties with Syria’s neighbors. When asked if that included Israel, Abdi responded, “with everyone.”


Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, Israeli official says

Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, Israeli official says
Updated 31 May 2025
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Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, Israeli official says

Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, Israeli official says
  • Palestinian Authority official says that the issue of whether the meeting in Ramallah would be able to go ahead is under discussion
  • The move comes ahead of an international conference due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood

JERUSALEM: Israel will not allow a planned meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said on Saturday, after media reported that Arab ministers planning to attend had been stopped from coming.

The delegation included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. The ministers would require Israeli consent to travel to the West Bank from Jordan.

An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in “a provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the land of Israel,” the official said. “Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.”

A Palestinian Authority official said that the issue of whether the meeting in Ramallah would be able to go ahead was under discussion.

The move comes ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favor a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state was not only a “moral duty but a political necessity.”