Middle East & North Africa

MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. The Iranian Defense Ministry has unveiled a next-generation Fateh Mubeen ballistic missile capable of evading radars and hitting targets with pinpointed accuracy, the news agency Tasnim reported on Monday.

The presentation ceremony was attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami who congratulated the army and military designers with the completion of the work on the new missile.

GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- More than 95 percent of the industrial factories in the Gaza Strip have stopped production due to the closure of the commercial crossing point of Kerem Shalom between Israel and the coastal enclave, officials said Monday.

Ali Hayek, chairman of The Palestinian Businessmen Association in Gaza said in an emailed press statement that after most of the industrial factories stopped its production, "around 75,000 workers and labours remained unemployed."

ANKARA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The plunge of Turkish lira is "a plot against Turkey" and the country will seek new partners and markets if the United States does not back down on its hostile policy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

Talking in a meeting in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, Erdogan said the current fluctuations in the exchange rate could not be explained by logic.

"I here declare that we have seen your plot and we are challenging it," said Erdogan, apparently referring to the United States.

AL-WASIT /Syria/, August 10. /TASS/. The Russian military police will create eight outposts near the demilitarized zone at the Golan Heights on the Syrian-Israeli border, a deputy commander of the Russian forces in Syria in charge of of military police, Viktor Zaytsev, said.

According to the official, the first permanent observation post of the Russian military police has already been set up.

"Seven more will be created in the future. They will serve as a security guarantee for civilians of the Quneitra governorate," he said.

10 Aug 2018; AFP: An attack on a bus at a market in rebel-held northern Yemen killed at least 29 children Thursday, the Red Cross said, as the Saudi-led coalition faced a growing outcry over the strike.

The coalition said it had carried out a "legitimate military action", targeting a bus in response to a deadly missile attack on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday by Huthi rebels.

8 Aug 2018; AFP: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday it was hard to imagine new talks with the US after it lost the trust of the world with its erratic decision-making.

"Imagine negotiating now -- how can we trust them?" Zarif told reporters on state broadcaster IRINN. "America has zig-zagged constantly, so now no one trusts them."

Zarif was speaking a day after Washington reimposed a first tranche of harsh sanctions following its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

A pregnant mother and her baby were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight Wednesday.

Enas Khammash, 23, and her 18-month daughter Bayan and a Hamas fighter were killed by Israeli air strikes in Jafarawi. 12 others have been injured.

TEHRAN, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Central Bank (CBI) on Monday unveiled a new policy to protect value of rial against foreign currency.

The policy includes the lift of ban on currency trade and the activity of official money exchange markets ordered by new governor of the CBI Abdolnasser Hemati, Tasnim news agency reported.

Hemati said the policy, endorsed by President Hassan Rouhani's administration, aims to control the currency market and allow economic activists to interact freely.

TEHRAN, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that the Iranians would make the United States regret for re-imposing sanctions against the Islamic republic.

"Through unity and solidarity, the Iranians will weather away the return of sanctions," Rouhani said. "Trump will learn that these kinds of pressures did not surrender Iranians in the past and will never do so in the future."

Rouhani also said that the U.S. administration "is not trustworthy for any negotiations" after its withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal.

By Faruk Zorlu

5 Aug 2018; AA; ANKARA; Turkey on Sunday criticized the Greek justice minister halting the extradition of an accused far-left terrorist to Turkey.

"The extradition of Turgut Kaya was refused by the decision of the Greek minister of justice despite the Greek judiciary’s ruling in favor of extradition to Turkey," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy in a statement.

"This reveals once again that the traditional sentiments of the Greek political power against Turkey have not changed," he added.