Middle East & North Africa

13 July 2022; MEMO: Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said yesterday that Beirut will defend its marine resources just like it had defended its land from the Israeli occupation.

13 July 2022; MEMO: Iraq's former Transportation Minister, Amir Abdul-Jabbar, said yesterday that Saudi Arabia is planning to announce the formation of a regional Arab military alliance similar to NATO that includes Iraq, during the upcoming visit of US President Joe Biden to Riyadh this week.

13 July 2022; MEMO: The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked by the killing and injuring of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in airstrikes on densely populated areas, through the use of live ammunition and at the continued lack of accountability for these violations."

TEHRAN, Jul 12 (NNN-FNA) – An Iranian Jewish lawmaker, said yesterday that, the United States constantly pursues a project of spreading Iranophobia, as a way to sell its weapons and make more profits.

Ever since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the United States has been carrying out this project, particularly at the regional level, said Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi.

The lawmaker said, the U.S. is trying to poison the atmosphere surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, in a bid to spread Iranophobia in a new form and safeguard its economic interests.

JERUSALEM, Jul 12 (NNN-PNA) – No political bloc in the Israeli regime could win a majority, in the 120-seat parliament, to form a new government, if elections were to be held today, according to the latest poll, published by state broadcaster, KAN.

The Likud Party, led by former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, remains the most popular party, would earn 34 seats in parliament, followed by Yesh Atid, headed by current interim Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, with 23 seats, according to the poll.

RIYADH, Jul 12 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia announced yesterday, the current Hajj season is successful and safe.

Saudi Prince, Khaled Al-Faisal, also chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, announced the success of the pilgrimage of 2022, at all security, service and health levels.

The prince said, no accidents nor epidemic diseases were reported among pilgrims, thanks to the government’s efforts and projects, as well as, all those involved in serving the pilgrims.

July 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has emerged unbowed from the international outrage over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi four years ago, as Western leaders who once tried to isolate him now seek his support.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has accused the prince of ordering Khashoggi's murder and said Saudi Arabia should be made a pariah, will visit the oil-producing kingdom on Friday hoping for a respite from soaring global petroleum prices.

TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the technological cooperation between Iran and Russia dates back to the days before the Ukrainian crisis.

Nasser Kanaani, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks when asked about U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's claim on Monday that Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drones, including weapons-capable ones.

12 July 2022; MEMO: The US is planning to build a diplomatic complex on private property confiscated from Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, a rights organisation said Sunday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a statement, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said they have found new evidence that the land on which the diplomatic compound is to be built under a joint US-Israeli plan is located on private property taken from Palestinians.

11 July 2022; MEMO: Jordan said it has never considered Iran a threat to its national security.

"We have never looked at Iran as a source of threats to our national security," Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh told the BBC in an interview.

The premier said Amman is seeking to establish good relations with Tehran. "Jordan has substantial reservations about the way Iran is dealing with some regional files," he added.