Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, May 22 (NNN-TASNIM) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry, yesterday summoned the Swiss ambassador, to protest the embassy’s posting of a photo of a “fake” Iranian flag.

The summons came, after the Swiss embassy in Tehran published on Friday, a post and a photo showing a “fake” flag of Iran, instead of the official one, on its Twitter page, expressing its condemnation of Iran’s execution of three convicts, who killed security officers in an armed attack last year, the report said.

JERUSALEM, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday morning, drawing condemnations from the Palestinians and Jordan.

Escorted by heavy police and the internal Shin Bet security agency, Ben-Gvir visited the compound in the early morning hours, according to a video statement released by his office.

He said he was glad to come up to the compound, and thanked the police officers at the site.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early Monday, Palestinian officials said, while the Biden administration sharply condemned Israel’s latest act of settlement expansion.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s president on Monday appointed a new official to take over the post of secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing the longtime powerful official Ali Shamkhani after becoming implicated in a recent spy scandal.

President Ebrahim Raisi issued a decree replacing Shamkhani who has faced persistent corruption allegations — which he denied — as well as scrutiny because of close ties with a British-Iranian man hanged on spying charges earlier this year in Iran.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As tensions with Iran have escalated over its nuclear program, the U.S. military this month posted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium.

The U.S. Air Force on May 2 released rare images of the weapon, the GBU-57, known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator.” Then it took the photos down — apparently because the photographs revealed sensitive details about the weapon’s composition and punch.

21 May 2023; MEMO: A former Israeli soldier handed back a key Thursday for a gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after stealing it 56 years ago, Anadolu reports.

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem published a video showing its director general Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib receiving the key from the man, identified as Yair Barack.

22 May 2023; MEMO: The Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces agreed Saturday to a seven-day cease-fire, according to Al Jazeera, based on sources from the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry, Anadolu reports.

Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya television reported that the agreement between the army and the paramilitary group will take effect in 48 hours.

It includes allowing armed groups involved in the conflict to evacuate hospitals and facilitating the repair of facilities serving the public.

21 May 2023; MEMO: Nearly 500,000 million Turkish nationals have cast their votes abroad in the country's foreign missions and customs gates in the second round of Turkiye's presidential election scheduled for May 28, Anadolu reports.

Since overseas voting began Saturday, 452,257 voters cast ballots at Turkish diplomatic missions, while 19,477 voted at customs gates, for a total of 471,734 people, according to figures from the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

21 May 2023; MEMO: Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests across the country, now entering their 20th week, on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contested plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court, Reuters reports.

The planned overhaul, which would give the government control over naming judges to the Supreme Court and let parliament override many rulings, was paused after opponents organised some of the biggest street protests ever seen in Israel.

22 May 2023; MEMO: The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sunday "strongly condemned" Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem, Anadolu reports.