Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT (AP) — Unidentified planes struck targets in Syria near the border with Israel on Friday, reports said, triggering “a huge explosion” amid soaring tensions in the region between the U.S. and Iran.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the planes targeted positions belonging to pro-Iran militias in the Boukamal area, near the border with Iraq. The Britain-based organization which documents the war in Syria through a network of activists on the ground said the planes struck among other targets weapons depots and vehicles belonging to the militias.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It is “highly likely” that Iran shot down the civilian Ukrainian jetliner that crashed near Tehran late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board, U.S., Canadian and British officials declared Thursday. They said the fiery missile strike could well have been a mistake amid rocket launches and high tension throughout the region.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian newspapers proclaimed the country’s attack on U.S. forces in Iraq to be “a dark night for Americans,” and Washington’s “first admission of failure in history.” On the bustling streets of Tehran, however, there was relief Thursday that neither side appeared primed for war.

“War is not something like the ‘Call of Duty’ game,” said Dara Shojaei, a 23-year-old architecture student. “It’s not a game you can play to win. There’s no winner.”

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has invited Boeing to take part in the investigation into a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week at a time of soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, state media reported Friday.

The move came after Western leaders said the plane appeared to have been unintentionally hit by a surface-to-air missile near Tehran hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq to avenge the killing of its top general in an American airstrike.

09 Jan 2019; MEMO: Israeli authorities are taking steps to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip in the context of indirect talks with Hamas over a longer-term truce, reported Al-Monitor.

09 Jan 2019; MEMO: Since the start of the year, Israel has been implementing a plan to isolate and suffocate Al-Aqsa Mosque and change its status.

The Deputy Director of the Muslim Waqf (Religious Endowments) Department in occupied Jerusalem, Najeh Bkerat, said the occupation is increasing the frequency of its violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the performance of Talmudic rituals within its compound, restricting the movement of Muslim worshippers, and thus imposing a new reality in the mosque.

09 Jan 2019; MEMO: Iran informed Iraq before striking the Ain Al-Assad Air Base with missiles on Tuesday evening, a military spokesperson for Iraq’s caretaker government said.

The statement clarified that “shortly after midnight on Wednesday 8/1/2020, we received an official verbal message by the Islamic Republic of Iran, informing us that the Iranian response to the assassination of the martyr Qassem Soleimani had begun or would start soon.”

TEHRAN, January 9. /TASS/: US proposal for cooperation with Iran will make no sense as long as US sanctions against Tehran stay in effect, Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi said on Thursday.

Iran will not be misled by the US president giving offer of cooperation when he has imposed unprecedented sanctions, Ravanchi told the Iranian news agency IRNA in an interview.

After the pullout from the nuclear deal the US has imposed numerous sanctions against Iran, thus exerting serious pressure on the Iranians’ lives, Ravanchi noted.

09 Jan 2019; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune yesterday setup a panel of experts to amend the constitution giving more powers to the parliament and consolidating the judiciary’s independence.

The Algerian presidency announced in a statement that Tebboune received Ahmed Laraba, a member of the United Nations International Law Commission, and appointed him chair of the 17-member panel of experts tasked with preparing proposals on amending the constitution.

09 Jan 2019; MEMO: Israel’s third election in a year is set to continue the longstanding political stalemate, according to the results of a new poll conducted for Israeli news site Walla.