Middle East

Gulf Arab state’s cybersecurity head says the country's financial sector was targeted but offers no details.

The devastating explosion killed more than 200 people, wounded over 6,000, and extensively damaged several neighborhoods in Beirut. The blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate believed to be stored at the port by the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group.

Iran has blamed Israel for the Nov. 27 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, threatening a "crushing retaliation." Arab intelligence officials: Iran's citing of multiple factors contributing to hit reflects its embarrassment. 

The official coronavirus tally in the Islamic republic recently topped 1 million cases.

The United States and Kuwait have worked to end the dispute, during which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt have imposed a diplomatic, trade, and travel embargo on Qatar since mid-2017 over the nation's support of terrorism. Washington says the row has hampered the creation of a united Arab Gulf front against Iran.

An editorial in the hardline Iranian daily Kayhan reveals the internal debate over potential retaliation over the assassination of the head of the Islamic republic's nuclear military program

"The minister’s statement was misinterpreted and that the ministry is committed to the Bahraini government’s unwavering stance regarding adherence to the resolutions of the United Nations," state media says.

“Right now, I don’t see that the normalization of Qatar and Israel is going to add value to the Palestinian people,” Doha's foreign minister says

First-of-its-kind online event features UN Ambassador in Geneva Meirav Eilon Shahar, Bahrain's UN Ambassador Houda Nonoo, and United Arab Emirates' UN envoy Lana Nusseibeh. Israel-UAE accord "already beginning to foster partnerships that will unlock enormous opportunities for women in the region," Nusseibeh says.

Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani says Bahrain's 40-member delegation returning to Bahrain “with lots of hope and ambition that we will forge the peace signed by our leadership, so it transmits to every Israeli and every Bahraini citizen.” "The big stuff will come and it will come big when it arrives," he says.