Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least five security troops were killed in Friday's "terrorist" attack in southeastern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday, citing a statement by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

In addition, 32 members of IRGC and Basij voluntary were injured in the incident in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, according to the IRGC statement.

So far, eight suspects in the attack have been arrested, according to Mehdi Shamsabadi, prosecutor general of Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces on Saturday shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank after a group of youths smashed a hole through the Israeli separation barrier and began throwing objects at police.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister on Sunday welcomed a U.S. proposal for setting the maritime border with Lebanon, saying the American plan for resolving a long-running dispute between the neighboring countries would lift Israel’s economy and boost regional security.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that protests over the death of a young woman in police custody could destabilize the country and urged security forces to deal harshly with those he claimed endanger public order.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf told lawmakers that unlike the current protests, which he said aim to topple the government, previous demonstrations by teachers and retirees over pay were aimed at reforms, according to the legislative body’s website.

2 October 2022; MEMO: Tunisian police have used excessive force against teachers who protested on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Education, demanding authorities provide them with permanent jobs.

According to the National Coordination of Representatives, the teachers were forced to end their protest after being subjected to "all forms of violence".

2 October 2022; MEMO: A Turkish soldier was killed in a terror attack in northern Iraq, authorities said Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Yusuf Atas was injured after terrorists opened "harassing fire" in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, according to the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

He later died at a hospital.

The ministry conveyed condolences to Atas's family, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the nation.

2 October 2022; MEMO: Israel gave its preliminary nod on Sunday to a draft US-brokered deal demarcating a maritime border with Lebanon that could lead to possible profit-sharing from future gas production by Beirut in a long-disputed Mediterranean prospect, Reuters reported.

Hoping to defuse one source of conflict between the enemy countries and perhaps prod them toward accommodation, US envoy Amos Hochstein last week submitted a new proposal that would pave the way for offshore energy exploration.

ISTANBUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it rejects Russia's annexation of four regions in Ukraine, adding the decision is a "grave violation" of international law.

Turkey, a NATO member, has conducted a diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours. It has also criticised Russia's invasion and sent armed drones to Ukraine.

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon on Saturday delivered a maritime border demarcation proposal to President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday, as negotiations with Israel progress.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948 and both countries claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by armed separatists on a police station in a southeastern city killed 19 people, including four members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

The assailants in Friday’s attack hid among worshippers near a mosque in the city of Zahedan and attacked the nearby police station, according to the report.