Middle East & North Africa

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: A senior member of the Hamas Political Bureau has described the security summit held in Aqaba on Sunday as "the worst sin committed by Arab states at this stage," Watan Voice has reported. A joint communique issued by participants at the summit said that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan hosted Jordanian, Egyptian, Israeli, Palestinian and US senior officials on 26 February for "comprehensive and frank discussions" to work towards a "just and lasting peace".

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Israeli occupation authorities seized the bank accounts of freed Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday and confiscated their property, Sama has reported.

According to reports, the bank account of freed prisoner Mohammad Dirbas from Jerusalem was seized and both his money and car were confiscated.

Freed prisoner Ayoub Afanah, also from Jerusalem, had all of his money taken from his bank account.

TEHRAN, March 1. /TASS/: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi will arrive in Tehran on Friday, March 3, the Fars news agency reported Wednesday.

During the visit, Grossi will meet with Iranian officials and will discuss "various issues" with them on Saturday, March 4, the report says.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Mehr news agency reported, citing head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami, that the IAEA Director General will arrive in the Iranian capital in the "upcoming two days."

TEHRAN, Mar 1 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran yesterday, unveiled the manoeuvre of air defence systems, stored in underground tunnels.

Video footage cited by Tasnim news agency, showed a homegrown air defence system belonging to the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), driving out of an underground tunnel.

The unveiling came, as Iran launched a large-scale real-combat air defence exercise, codenamed Modafean Aseman-e Velayat 1401.

RAMALLAH, Mar 1 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior U.S. official, yesterday visited the Palestinian village of Hawara, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and condemned the recent violence by Israeli settlers.

During a short visit to the village, Hady Amr, the U.S. special representative for Palestinian affairs, in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, met with representatives of civil institutions and the municipal council.

TEHRAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran has declared two German diplomats to be personae non gratae and has expelled them from the Islamic republic over Berlin's "interventionist and irresponsible" measures against Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani blamed the German government for its "irresponsible interference" in Iran's internal and judicial affairs, according to a statement published on the Foreign Ministry's website on Wednesday.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Wednesday it has expelled two German diplomats over Berlin’s alleged interference in its internal affairs.

The move comes a week after Germany expelled two Iranian diplomats over a death sentence handed down to Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German dual citizen and opposition figure accused of masterminding deadly attacks.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had also summoned the German ambassador over “excessive” demands, without elaborating.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said Iran’s latest move was “completely unjustified.”

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops arrested two Palestinians on Wednesday suspected of involvement in the killing earlier this week of an American-Israeli, the military said, in a daylight raid in a West Bank refugee camp.

The arrest raid came as Israel’s parliament gave initial approval to a proposal to impose the death penalty against Palestinians convicted in deadly attacks. A top minister in Israel’s far-right government, meanwhile, called for “erasing” a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank where radical Jewish settlers went on a rampage earlier this week.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Budget carrier FlyDubai announced record profits on Wednesday, benefitting from a surge in air travel following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

The state-owned carrier, based in the business and tourism hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reported $327 million in profit in 2022, up 43% from the previous year. Annual revenue for 2022 was up 72%, to $2.5 billion, it said.

BAGHDAD (AP) — An international archeological mission has uncovered the remnants of what is believed to be a 5,000-year-old restaurant or tavern in the ancient city of Lagash in southern Iraq.

The discovery of the ancient dining hall — complete with a rudimentary refrigeration system, hundreds of roughly made clay bowls and the fossilized remains of an overcooked fish — announced in late January by a University of Pennsylvania-led team, generated some buzz beyond Iraq’s borders.