Middle East & North Africa

Tehran, IRNA – President Ebrahim Raisi has underscored that unity among Shias and Sunnis is considered as a strategy, not a tactic, from the standpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In a meeting with a number of Sunni scholars, Raisi said on Sunday that clerics and scholars enjoy significant position in Iran’s history.

“You Sunni clerics and thinkers have provided many services in their own country,” the president said, adding, “Shiites and Sunnis have lived together in Islamic Iran for many years.”

Buffalo (US), May 15 (AP) A white 18-year-old wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday in what authorities described as "racially-motivated violent extremism".

14 May 2022; MEMO: The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had intended to use Israel's infamous Pegasus spyware for its ongoing operations, a report by The New York Times has revealed.

A Tunisian official announced on Friday that his country had raised the prices of domestic consumption of electricity and natural gas in the latest series of price increases in a country suffering the worst financial crisis in its history.

The African country is seeking to reach a new loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for reforms that are not supported by its people, including cutting energy and food subsidies and freezing wages.

15 May 2022; MEMO: Turkey has proposed conducting an evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers stranded in the southern port city of Mariupol, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman confirmed.

In an interview with the news agency Reuters, Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin confirmed that he himself had discussed the plan to evacuate the wounded Ukrainian soldiers from Mariupol with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv two weeks ago.

15 May 2022; MEMO: The United States has exempted territories in Syria run by the Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG) from wide-ranging sanctions, in a decision which neighbouring Turkey has condemned as an attempt to "legitimise" the group.

DUBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates strongman Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who was formally elected president on Saturday, led a realignment of the Middle East that created a new anti-Iran axis with Israel and fought a rising tide of political Islam in the region.

Working behind the scenes for years as de facto leader, Sheikh Mohammed, 61, transformed the UAE military into a high-tech force, which coupled with its oil wealth and business hub status, extended Emirati influence internationally.

TEHRAN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Navy has thwarted a pirate attack on an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, Iranian Press TV reported on Saturday.

Unidentified pirates attacked the ship on Friday, but facing the fire from the Iranian Navy's 80th fleet they fled, the Navy said in a statement.

The Iranian vessel is now sailing to its designated destination, it added.

Over the past years, Iran's Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign vessels in international waters.

TUNIS, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia and Egypt signed several agreements on Friday to strengthen bilateral cooperation, according to a statement released by the Tunisian government.

These agreements were signed in the presence of Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden Romdhane and her Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly at a ceremony upon the conclusion of the 17th session of the Egyptian-Tunisian Joint Higher Committee.

ISTANBUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey does not have a positive opinion on the idea of Finland and Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"We are currently following the developments regarding Sweden and Finland, but we do not have a positive opinion," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers.

Finland and Sweden are expected to submit their membership applications to NATO soon, local media reported.