Middle East & North Africa

13 July 2023; MEMO: Iraq will start paying for its Iranian gas imports with oil, to circumvent the complicated mechanism agreed with Washington in order not to contravene US sanctions, the Prime Minister said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Iraq cannot directly hand over cash to Iran, but payments must be held in a bank account and be used by Tehran to fund imports of food and medicines.

13 July 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released 15 Iranians from prison, amid the recent warming of relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran.

According to Iran's state-affiliated Fars News Agency, Emirati authorities today released the 15 prisoners, with initial charges against them and the details surrounding them remaining unknown.

ANKARA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish lawmakers would make the right decision on Sweden's NATO bid in line with Türkiye's interests, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.

"Our parliament will ... make the right decision in line with the interests of our country," Erdogan said when returning from the NATO summit held in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on July 11-12.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in February 2022. Türkiye finally approved Finland's bid in March this year but has not yet ratified Sweden's.

CAIRO, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Sudan's Neighboring Countries Summit kicked off in Cairo on Thursday to discuss a solution to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Participants of the summit aim to "develop effective mechanisms" to resolve the conflict peacefully, in coordination with other regional and international efforts, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

CAIRO (AP) — The bodies of dozens of people allegedly killed by Sudanese paramilitary forces and an allied militia have been uncovered in a mass grave in West Darfur, the United Nations said Thursday.

According to “credible information” obtained by the U.N. Human Rights Office, at least 87 people — some of them from the ethnic African Masalit tribe — were killed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and an affiliated Arab militia. Their bodies were dumped in a one-meter (around three-foot) grave just outside the West Darfur city of Geneina, the agency said.

12 July 2023; MEMO: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has informed the UN that his country "demands a full demarcation of its southern border with Israel." Mikati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese government is working "diligently" to solve the "tents crisis" through diplomatic channels, adding that, "We told the UN that we are ready for a full drawing of the entire southern border."

12 July 2023; MEMO: Iraq is reportedly planning to buy JF-17 fighter aircraft from Pakistan, becoming the fifth country to do so, according to a report on Sunday by Pakistan's The News International, citing unnamed sources.

12 July 2023; MEMO: Approximately 300 Israeli reservists serving in cyberwarfare units announced they will not be attending their volunteer reserve duties in protest of the Knesset's approval of the first reading of the reasonableness bill.

13 July 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces yesterday stormed the house of Sheikh Najeh Bkeerat, chief guard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and detained him, Quds Press reported.

Bkeerat's house is located in Sur Baher, south of the occupied holy city of Jerusalem.

On 20 June, the Israeli occupation authorities ordered Bkeerat not to go to Al-Aqsa, giving him 72 hours to implement it.

13 July 2023; MEMO: Israel's National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, accusing him of being a politician with no restrictions, Akka news website has reported. Gantz apparently said that Netanyahu is seeking to partition the nation for the sake of staying in office.