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Swiss talk with US, Iran about humanitarian payment channel for food, drugs

Switzerland is holding talks with the United States and Iran about launching a humanitarian payment channel to help ensure food and drugs keep flowing to the Islamic Republic as Washington re-imposes economic sanctions, the government said. "Switzerland is committed to safeguarding...

France issues arrest warrants for three Syrian security officials over prison torture

French prosecutors have issued international arrest warrants for three senior Syrian intelligence and government officials, including security chief Ali Mamlouk, for alleged collusion in war crimes, legal sources said Monday. Mamlouk, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most...

Rouhani warns of 'war situation' as sanctions resume

Iran greeted the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Monday with air defense drills and an acknowledgement from President Hassan Rouhani the nation faces a "war situation," raising Mideast tensions as America's maximalist approach to the Islamic Republic takes hold. The sanctions end all...

Stone throwers face different fates around the globe

President Donald Trump’s recent assertion that U.S. troops should respond to rock-throwing migrants — a hypothetical scenario — as if they were armed has sparked a debate about the appropriate use of force. Nigerian troops swiftly used Trump’s comments about the migrants as...

Jordan says Israel wants to discuss border land deals

Jordan said Sunday Israel had asked for consultations on a special land deal agreed in their peace treaty that the Jordanian government wants to end. Under the peace treaty, two border areas were recognized to be under Jordanian sovereignty but gave Israel special provisions to use the...

Airstrikes kill 25 Daesh terrorists in Iraq’s Kirkuk

At least 25 Daesh terrorists were killed in airstrikes in Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk province on Sunday, a senior Iraqi security official said. The U.S.-led international coalition forces carried out airstrikes in the northwestern province of Kirkuk, Maj. Gen. Maan al-Saadi told Anadolu...

Egypt says police kill 19 militants suspects linked to Copt attack

Nineteen suspected militants linked to a deadly attack on Coptic Christians in central Egypt have been killed in a shootout with police, the interior ministry said Sunday. Those killed in the exchange of fire were part of a cell that left dead seven Coptic pilgrims in Friday's attack in...

Israeli forces raid Jerusalem governor’s office

Israeli forces on Sunday raided the Jerusalem governor’s office in the occupied West Bank, according to local residents. “An Israeli force stormed the governor’s office in the town of al-Ram, northeast of Jerusalem, and searched it,” a local resident told Anadolu...

Iranians rally to mark anniversary of US Embassy takeover

Thousands of Iranians rallied in Tehran Sunday to mark the 39th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover, as Washington restored all sanctions lifted under the nuclear deal. The crowd chanted "Down with U.S." and "Death to Israel" during the rally in the capital, and state TV said...

Russian-made fighter jet crashes in Egypt

A Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jet of the Egyptian Air Forces crashed in Egypt during a training flight on Saturday, according to Russia’s state-controlled aircraft company. The Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said in a statement that a technical glitch and piloting error are among...

Jordan urged to reverse decision to halt Turkey deal

A Jordanian official on Saturday called on his government to reverse a decision to cancel a free trade agreement with Turkey. “The commercial sector hopes that the government would restudy the agreement carefully to serve the best of all parties,” Nael al-Kabariti, the head of the...

Iran inaugurates production line of indigenous fighter jet

State TV says Iran has inaugurated the production line of its domestically produced fighter jet a day after President Donald Trump’s administration announced the reimposition of remaining U.S. sanctions on Tehran to ramp up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic. Defense Minister...

Palestinians slam Brazil over embassy move

A senior Palestinian official Friday condemned Brazilian far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro’s announcement that he would move his country’s Israel embassy to occupied Jerusalem. The move announced Thursday comes six months after the United States controversially transferred its...

US reimposes all pre-nuclear deal sanctions on Iran

The U.S. announced Friday it is reimposing all sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the announcement during a telephone call with reporters. The new wave of...

Coptic Church: Attack on Christians in Egypt kills 7

Islamist militants Friday ambushed a bus carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, killing at least seven and wounding 12, the Interior Ministry said. Coptic Orthodox Church spokesman Bouls Halim said the death toll in...

US allows eight 'jurisdictions' to keep buying Iran oil for now

The United States said Friday it will temporarily allow eight jurisdictions to keep importing Iranian oil when U.S. sanctions come back into force Monday, sparing them for now from the threat of U.S. economic penalties. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who announced the decision in...

Iran says report of US oil waivers shows market needs Iranian crude: TV

Iran said Friday that a report that eight countries had been granted waivers to U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil showed that Iran's crude was needed and could not be withdrawn from the market. "The waivers granted to these eight countries shows that the market needs Iran's oil and it cannot be...

Jordan ministers resign over Dead Sea flood deaths

Jordan's education and tourism ministers resigned Thursday after an investigation into the deaths of 21 people, mainly school children who were swept away in flash floods on a school outing in the Dead Sea region, state media said. A parliamentary committee formed to investigate the...