Middle East & North Africa

17 July 2019; DW: The family of a jailed British-Iranian woman says she has been taken to the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Tehran. The case has fueled tensions between Iran and the UK amid attempts to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, was transferred from Evin prison to the psychiatric ward at Imam Khomeini hospital, where she is being held by the Revolutionary Guard, her father said Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (AP) — As Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, he is solidifying his place as the country’s greatest political survivor and the most dominant force in Israeli politics in his generation.

He has persevered through scandals, crises and conflicts, winning election after election even as the country grows more bitterly polarized. His supporters credit him with keeping Israel safe and prosperous, maintaining its Jewish character and boosting its standing internationally.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Latest on tensions in the Persian Gulf amid a crisis between the United States and Iran (all times local):

5:30 a.m.

Iran’s state-run media is quoting the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the Islamic Republic helped an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz amid U.S. concern that Tehran seized one there.

The state-run IRNA news agency early Wednesday quoted Abbas Mousavi as saying Iran towed an unnamed vessel to harbor after it suffered a technical malfunction.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A small oil tanker from the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz entered Iranian waters and turned off its tracker three days ago, leading the U.S. to suspect Iran seized the vessel amid heightened tensions in the region.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran says remarks by the country’s foreign minister about Iran’s missile program possibly being up for negotiations with the U.S. meant to challenge Washington’s arms sales policy to the region — and were not meant to indicate a readiness by Tehran for any such talks.

The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, tweeted late on Tuesday that Mohammad Javad Zarif’s comments “threw the ball into the U.S. court while challenging America’s arm sales” to its Mideast allies.

16 July 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces detained 2,759 Palestinians during the first six months of this year, including 446 minors and 76 women, Palestinian rights groups announced yesterday.

The Prisoners Affairs Commission, the Palestinian Prisoner Society and Addameer said in a joint statement said 5,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli jails until 30 June 30, including 43 women and 220 minors.

16 July 2019; MEMO: Ola Al-Qaradawi was transferred from Egypt’s Al-Qanater women’s prison yesterday for a pretrial detention hearing which was scheduled to be held today.

16 July 2019; MEMO: A Palestinians has died while in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison, the head of the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs revealed this morning.

Thirty-one-year-old Nassar Majed Taqatqa, who was being held in Nitzan prison, was detained by occupation forces a month ago after they raided his house in the occupied West Bank town of Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, Qadri Abu-Baker said.

16 July 2019; MEMO: Former Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said in a video posted on social media that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption was “limitless”, Al-Wattan Voice reported yesterday.

“Today, from the northern borders, I undertake to regain democracy,” head of new party Democratic Israel said.

16 July 2019; MEMO: Egyptian authorities detained a Ukrainian tanker carrying Iranian oil as it passed through the Suez Canal ten days ago, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed has reported.

News of the seizure came a day after Egypt’s Supreme State Security Criminal Court sentenced six people to jail on charges of spying for Iran.