Middle East & North Africa

Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that a meeting of Joint Commission of the JCPOA was not on the agenda and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahanian would meet bilaterally with JCPOA participants.

Khatibzadeh made the remarks on Tuesday in response to the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s statement that the Join Commission of the JCPOA would convene a meeting in New York.

21 Sep 2021; MEMO: Iranian Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, yesterday warned Israel against committing any "foolish act" against the Islamic Republic, saying "the Iranian people will respond forcefully" to any aggression against them.

Responding to recent Israeli threats against Tehran, General Ashtiani said: "The Iranian people, without a doubt, will respond forcefully to any foolish act by the enemy", adding that the Islamic Republic's enemies "will pay a heavy price for any aggression."

21 Sep 2021; MEMO: Media reports emerged Tuesday about a failed coup attempt in Sudan.

State television said that a coup attempt was taking place in the country, calling on the citizens to confront it. This came in urgent news broadcast by the state TV, without giving further details about the group behind the plot.

A senior Sudanese military source told Anadolu Agency that a putschist group was trying to take control of the country.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly roadside bombs targeting Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, raising the specter of wider conflict between the country’s new Taliban rulers and their long-time rivals.

CAIRO, Sept 20 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, yesterday held a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, and urged Israel to revive peace talks with the Palestinian side, to end their decades-long conflict, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in a statement.

ADEN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The European Union joined a chorus of international criticism on Monday over the execution of nine men by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen following their conviction for involvement in the killing of the group's top civilian leader.

Saleh al-Samad, who held the post of president in the Houthi-controlled administration which runs most of northern Yemen, was killed in April 2018 by a Saudi-led coalition air strike in the port city of Hodeidah on Yemen's west coast.

20 Sep 2021; MEMO: An Israeli court in the northern city of Nazareth on Sunday extended the detention of four recaptured Palestinian prisoners for further 10 days, according to Israeli media, reports Anadolu Agency.

The detention of Zakaria Zubeidi, Mahmoud al-Arida, Yakub Qaderi, and Mohammad Al-Arida was extended for 10 days for investigation, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

20 Sep 2021; MEMO: Iran will provide Lebanon with additional fuel whenever the Lebanese government requests it, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday.

"Iran is determined to cooperate with and assist friendly governments. In this case, there was a request from Lebanese businessmen. The buying and selling process took place normally and the shipment had been sent," Khatibzadeh said.

20 Sep 2021; MEMO: Secretary-General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), Ali Al-Qaradaghi yesterday urged the Taliban government in Afghanistan to "establish a just rule".

"Dr. Al-Qaradaghi has recommended the [Afghan] government place its priority in establishing a just rule that will be a model of the Islam of justice and the Islam of mercy," IUMS said in a statement.

20 Sep 2021; MEMO: A leaked audio recording of the Prime Minister of Libya's interim Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, in which he questioned the Egyptian judiciary's integrity could ignite a diplomatic crisis with Cairo.

In the leaked audio recording, possibly recorded during an official meeting with the Egyptian prime minister, Dbeibeh is heard asking the Egyptian government to intervene in a case involving the Libyan State and a Kuwaiti company before the Egyptian judiciary.