Middle East & North Africa

07 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Saudi Arabia has no opposition to the United States returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud announced yesterday.

07 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Algerian authorities yesterday resumed domestic flights after they were suspended months ago due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Sources told local media that the government had not resumed international flights, adding that the domestic flights were resumed amid "strict implementation of health measures to prevent the spread of the virus."

06 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said on Saturday that the recent bill to increase nuclear enrichment "is not in contradiction with the [Iranian] national interests."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had objected to the Strategic Act to Revoke Sanctions bill which was approved by the Iranian parliament. Rouhani said it will be "harmful" to the country's diplomatic efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers.

06 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Once Turkey starts to mass-produce its own turboshaft helicopter engines, it will avert annual hi-tech imports worth $60 million, a senior official in the country said on Saturday, reported by Anadolu Agency.

DUBAI (Reuters) - An official close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denied rumours on social media that the top authority’s health was deteriorating, the semi official Fars news agency reported on Monday.

“By the grace of God and with the good prayers of devotees, the Gentleman (Ayatollah Khamenei) is in good health and is busy vigorously carrying out his plan according to his routine,” Fars reported, quoting a tweet by Mehdi Fazaeli.

Fazaeli has worked in an office publishing Khamenei’s work.

JERUSALEM (AP) — In the coming years, Israelis will be able to commute into Jerusalem and Tel Aviv from settlements deep inside the West Bank via highways, tunnels and overpasses that cut a wide berth around Palestinian towns.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The top U.S. Navy official in the Mideast said Sunday that America has reached an “uneasy deterrence” with Iran after months of regional attacks and seizures at sea, even as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates was the target of cyber attacks after establishing formal ties with Israel, the Gulf Arab state’s cyber security head said on Sunday.

The UAE in August broke with decades of Arab policy when it agreed to forge ties with Israel in a move that angered Palestinians and some Muslim states and communities. Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit.

(Reuters) - Iran has instructed its oil ministry to prepare installations for production and sale of crude oil at full capacity within three months, state media said on Sunday, ahead of a possible easing of U.S. sanctions after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

They quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying that Iran exported more than two million barrels a day before U.S. President Donald Trump exited the 2015 nuclear deal with six powers in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that have hit Iran’s economy hard by sharply cutting its vital oil exports.

KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah accepted on Sunday the resignation of the government submitted by the prime minister, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said.

The emir ordered the cabinet to serve as caretaker until a new government would be formed, KUNA said.

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has submitted on Sunday the resignation of his government to emir in a routine procedure after parliamentary elections.