Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the United States has waged an economic war against Iran, official IRNA news agency reported.

"We're in economic war" through U.S. sanctions on Iranian financial, economic and business institutions, Rouhani was quoted as saying.

Iran is grappling with "the harshest sanctions in history imposed in blatant and gross violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international agreements," Rouhani said during his Tuesday's address to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

TEHRAN, Sept 22 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Monday that, Iran is ready for the exchange of all prisoners with the United States, Iran Press News Agency reported.

Zarif made the remarks, in a virtual address to the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York on Monday.

In Dec, 2019, Tehran and Washington exchanged two prisoners, a detained American, on spying charges, for an imprisoned Iranian researcher, for violating sanctions on Iran.

RAMALLAH, Sept 22 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ishtaye, yesterday, accused the U.S. administration of preventing Arab states from supporting the Palestinian Authority (PA), to force it to barter its national rights for money.

During the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet, Ishtaye said, “U.S. President, Donald Trump, cut off aid to us and prevented some Arab states from fulfilling their obligations towards us, to besiege the leadership and the Palestinian people politically, economically and financially.”

CAIRO, Sept 22 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussed yesterday, a number of regional issues.

During a phone conversation, Sisi and Al Nahyan exchanged views on the recent developments in regional and international issues of common interest, Egyptian presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, said.

The discussions came within the framework of mutual regular consultations between the two leaders, Rady added.

RAMALLAH, West Bank/GAZA (Reuters) - Palestine has quit its current chairmanship of Arab League meetings, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Tuesday, condemning as dishonourable any Arab agreement to establish formal ties with Israel.

Palestinians see the accords which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed with Israel in Washington a week ago as betrayal of their cause and a blow to their quest for an independent state in Israeli-occupied territory.

GAZA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The health ministry in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday that Gaza would soon witness a "humanitarian disaster" amid an acute shortage of medical supplies and equipment in handling the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, told Xinhua that the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the novel coronavirus can only enough for two days, which "would cause a catastrophe."

The densely populated coastal enclave needs to double the PCR tests to combat the virus and avoid its spread, al-Qedra said.

Tehran, Sept 22, IRNA – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Tuesday that the new contractor selected by Russia for the Sirik 1400-MW power plant has also been endorsed by Iran, noting that the construction operation is expected to start within weeks.

Speaking to IRNA, Ardakanian said that Russian side finally decided to change the contractor and the new one has been conformed by Iran.

He added that the executive procedure of the project is underway.

Russian Federation has undertaken to finance the project.

22 Sep 2020; AA: Archeologists in southeastern Turkey initiated an excavation to unearth mosaics belonging to a 1600-year-old church. 

Built in 396 A.D. in Mardin’s Goktas village, the church was discovered on Sept. 18, 2019 and the area was declared as an archeological site.

Abdulgani Tarkan, head of the excavation and the director of Mardin Museum, told Anadolu Agency that the church is structured on a basilica plan with a mosaic base.

22 Sep 2020; MEMO: Protesters in southern Iraq yesterday closed the Dhi Qar oil company and prevented employees from entering the building, Anadolu news agency reported.

The agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the protesters burned tyres, and set up roadblocks on the main street leading to the company’s entrance to demand employment opportunities for locals in oil installations in the province.

22 Sep 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has asked Russia to intervene and help prevent the strategic city of Marib from falling into the hands of Yemen’s Houthis, the Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

The paper quoted sources as saying that the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal Bin Farhan, spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and asked him to mediate between the kingdom and the Houthis to stop the group from advancing towards Marib.