Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can help boost trade and expand economic cooperation among the countries along its route.

He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, while answering a question about the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be hosted in Beijing on Oct. 17 and 18, and the 10th anniversary of the BRI.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese energy companies have completed the mechanical work for the first associated gas processing plant in the Halfaya oil field, which is located in Iraq's southern province of Maysan.

The plant, expected to be operational in the first half of next year, is part of Iraq's efforts to improve its capacity for processing gas, benefit economically from gas, and reduce carbon emissions.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said Monday it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rose following the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct.7.

Hezbollah’s military media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A battle that killed dozens of civilians and more than a dozen Israeli soldiers nearly a decade ago offers a glimpse of the type of fighting that could lie ahead if Israeli forces roll into Gaza as expected to punish Hamas for its rampage across southern Israel last week.

It was July 19, 2014, during Israel’s third war against Hamas. The target was Shijaiyah, a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City that the army said Hamas had transformed into a “terrorist fortress,” filled with tunnels, rocket launchers and booby traps.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians in besieged Gaza crowded into hospitals and schools on Monday, seeking shelter and running low on food and water. More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel.

Tehran, IRNA- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has warned that war fronts will likely expand if Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip do not stop.

“If the attacks by the Zionist regime on Gaza do not stop, the expansion of war fronts is likely, and the possibility of this increases every hour,” Amirabdollahian said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Iran’s top diplomat added that a message has been sent to the Israeli regime through its allies that if its atrocities do not cease in Gaza, “it will be very late tomorrow".

Tehran, IRNA - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that supporting the oppressed people of Palestine is the definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and reminded those who are silent against Israel's crimes must answer for their behavior today before God, their consciences, and the judgment of history.

Addressing the Sunday evening session of the cabinet, President Raisi condemned the terrible crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the oppressed and defenseless people of Gaza.

Tehran, IRNA – Iran says the Resistance Front will not turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against the defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at a weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani warned that the continuation of this “barbaric approach” by the Zionist regime can inflame the situation in the region and spin it out of control.

16 October 2023; AA: The Israeli army on Monday announced the activation of a plan to "evacuate 28 Israeli villages on the Lebanese border" following an exchange of fire with Hezbollah.

16 October 2023; AA: The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza has risen to 2,750, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday.

The number of wounded has risen to 9,700, the ministry added.

In a previous statement, the ministry said over 750 children were among the people killed in the Israeli attacks.


Health authorities also said that there are 58 fatalities in the West Bank along with at least 1,250 injuries.