Middle East & North Africa

RIYADH, October 14. /TASS/: The countries participating in the OPEC+ agreement on crude production cap are not considering revision of the deal’s terms, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian-Saudi investment forum on Monday.

"No, that (revision of deal’s terms) is not under consideration. Today we are going to sign a long-term cooperation charter," he said when asked whether revision of the deal’s terms is under consideration.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Tehran would continue to scale back its commitments to the 2015 nuclear agreement until the European Union fulfils promises it made under the deal.

Iran has gradually scaled back its nuclear commitments since May after the U.S. pulled out of the deal and has called on European parties to the pact to salvage the deal by shielding Iran’s economy from U.S. penalties.

Rouhani, speaking on state television, also said Iran would start working on more advance uranium enrichment centrifuges.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters had emptied a jail holding Islamic State prisoners in a part of Syria where Ankara is mounting an offensive, and that the prisoners there had been abducted.

Turkey launched a cross-border operation against the YPG militia in northeastern Syria last week, after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw forces from two posts in the area in a move that drew strong international criticism.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Agents of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have captured and returned to Iran an exiled journalist who allegedly fueled anti-government street unrest across the country early last year using social media, Iranian state television reported on Monday.

Ruhollah Zam, a journalist-turned-activist who headed Amadnews with more 1 million followers on social media, was based in France and other parts of Europe.

Zam’s capture was a “complex operation using intelligence deception”, the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by the television.

14 Oct 2019; MEMO: Hamas yesterday warned of a new Israeli plan to displace tens of thousands of Palestinians from the Negev.

In the statement, a copy of which sent to MEMO, the movement said that the Israeli occupation is planning to “displace about 90,000 Palestinians from 36 villages in Al-Naqab [Negev], south of historic Palestine.”

14 Oct 2019; MEMO: Egyptian undercover forces have kidnapped female activist Israa Abdelfattah from a street in the capital Cairo, Arab48 reported.

According to the activist Mohamed Dalah, the undercover forces stopped him along with 41-year-old Abdelfattah and put each one in a separate car.

“After an hour, they released me at a highway,” he wrote on Facebook, noting that he was beaten before he was released.

14 Oct 2019; MEMO: Former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army and senior leader in Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party, Gabi Ashkenazi, has said that the biggest threat to Israel is the lack of unity, Arab48 reported yesterday.

He said that there is no Israeli decision to end Hamas’ rule in the Gaza Strip.

14 Oct 2019; MEMO: The Pentagon has agreed to sell Kuwait 19 armoured recovery vehicles and associated heavy equipment to the tune of $281 million, the New Khaleej reported yesterday.

The M88 Recovery Vehicle is one of the largest armoured recovery vehicles and it is referred to as HERCULES – Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extraction System. It would be used to ensure the sustainability of Kuwait’s new tank defence system.

14 Oct 2019; MEMO: Arms sales bans by the West against Turkey will not stop Ankara’s operation in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

The premier said two Turkish soldiers and 16 members of the Syrian National Army had been killed during the operation which was launch on Wednesday.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday vowed that Iran will never give in to the pressures by its enemies, Tasnim news agency reported.

Khamenei slammed the United States and Israel for what he called "sucking the blood of nations, warmongering activities, causing catastrophes, and treating other nations with cruelty and suppression."

Khamenei made the remarks in Tehran during a graduation ceremony of students at Imam Hossein University belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).