Middle East & North Africa

Tehran, IRNA - Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq is slated to embark on a two-day visit to Iran on Sunday.

Sultan of Oman's visit will take place at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, IRNA reported.

President Raisi will officially welcome Sultan Haitahm bin Tariq at Sa'ad Abad Cultural-Historical Complex in Tehran on Sunday evening.

The visit will be carried out within the framework of ongoing consultations between the two countries to discuss various regional and international developments and to enhance diplomatic and economic relations.

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian says Iran does not recognize the ruling government in Afghanistan, urging the Taliban group to form an inclusive government.

Amirabdollahian made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting between Foreign Ministry officials and Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Imam Khomeini, at the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic.

Tehran, IRNA – Assadollah Assadi, a former Iranian diplomat imprisoned in Belgium on false charges, has returned home after five years.

The plane carrying Assadi landed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on Friday evening local time, IRNA reported.

Earlier on the day, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani had said that the former diplomat had been released from prison and would return home after “five years of captivity.”

Tehran, IRNA – Tehran has slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “worthless” allegations against the Islamic Republic, saying they were intended to divert public attention.

Zelensky on Wednesday once again accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia to be used in the war against Ukraine, claiming, “the people of Iran are being driven deeper and deeper into the dark side of history.”

In a statement on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the remarks were a “political show” featuring “baseless allegations” against Tehran.

SANAA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Despite the efforts of the United Nations and its partners, the problem of food insecurity in Yemen remains a severe threat, warned a UN official on Thursday.

David Gressly, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said that 17 million people in Yemen are still grappling with food insecurity, as revealed by a recent report from the UN food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Children's Fund.

27 May 2023; AA: Türkiye is heading to a runoff vote on Sunday to elect the president after no candidate was able to reach the 50% threshold in the first round held on May 14.

The voting will begin on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time (0500GMT) and end at 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT).

More than 60 million people are registered to vote, including 4.9 million first-time voters.

A total of 191,885 ballot boxes have been set up for voters in the country.

ANKARA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Three years after George Floyd was killed by four police officers in the U.S. state of Minnesota, the case still haunts Black Americans and fuels their skepticism and distrust of police, Türkiye's semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.

The murder of Floyd on May 25, 2020 "showed the world how (American) police treat Black people differently than white people," Anadolu quoted Alicia Jennings, a 39-year-old living in Houston, as saying.

27 May 2023; MEMO: Reporters Without Borders has called on the Egyptian authorities to release Tawfik Ghanem, the former bureau chief of the Anadolu Agency office in Cairo, noting that he had begun his third year in detention without being brought to trial.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has parlayed his country’s NATO membership and location straddling Europe and the Middle East into international influence, is favored to win reelection in a presidential runoff Sunday, despite a host of domestic issues.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in Beirut’s port — set off by tons of improperly stored chemicals — reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes.

The reopening Friday night offered Beirut residents a rare bright spot in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis that has left around three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million in poverty.