Middle East & North Africa

Chennai, Apr 19 (PTI) The main opposition AIADMK on Tuesday made an appeal in the Tamil Nadu Assembly to the government to consider whether the House proceedings everyday could be commenced following the rendition of 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu', an invocation to mother Tamil and official state song.

19 April 2022; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has criticised "some countries in the region" who have normalised relations with Israel, saying this encouraged the occupation state to exacerbate its attacks against Palestinians.

Speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference yesterday, Khatibzadeh also criticised the international community's silence regarding Israeli crimes, noting that his country "has taken measures in this regard at the level of international organisations".

19 April 2022; MEMO: Two UAE airlines have agreed to take part in a flyover organised annually by Israeli airlines to mark Israel's Independence Day, which marks the 1948 Nakba.

19 April 2022; MEMO: Egyptian authorities have put the country in a state of high security after an online petition calling on the president to stand down began circulating.

According to the New Arab, Egypt's Technocrats, which the expats who launched the petition are known as, have asked for the upper and lower houses to be suspended.

They are also calling for confidence to be withdrawn from Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's rule due to an array of failures, including his mismanagement of the economy.

19 April 2022; MEMO: Iran yesterday said a deal to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers was not in sight, adding that the US was to blame.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters that "more than one issue is still pending between Iran and the United States."

He explained that messages coming from Washington "are far from providing solutions that could lead to an accord."

19 April 2022; MEMO: Head of the National Democratic Alliance, Member of the Israeli Knesset Sami Abu Shehadeh, said he received hundreds of death threats following his criticism of Israel's occupation and its aggression on Palestinians, Arab48 reported yesterday.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — During its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran embraced the protest cry of “neither East nor West,” rejecting both the U.S. and the Soviet Union, then locked in the Cold War. The phrase to this day hangs over the doors of Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

19 April 2022; MEMO: Illegal Israeli settlers held a concert at the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron yesterday to mark Passover, after occupation forces banned Palestinian worshippers from accessing the Muslim holy site.

The Palestinian Islamic Endowments in Hebron said the Ibrahimi Mosque would close at 10pm on Sunday and would remain closed for two days. This, it said, was a blatant encroachment on its sanctity and a provocative violation of Muslims' right to access their place of worship.

TEHRAN, Apr 18 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, yesterday criticised some Arab states for normalising ties with Israel, saying, interactions with Israel can not ensure these countries’ security.

History has proven that aggression and occupation will never lead to order, stability and calm, Bagheri told a meeting with Iranian army commanders, according to the foreign ministry’s website.

Because of its occupying and aggressive nature, Israel has caused insecurity and tensions, he noted.

JERUSALEM, Apr 18 (NNN-PNA) – Israel’s Islamic party of Ra’am, said yesterday that, it considered quitting the coalition government, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, to protest against the police actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Mansour Abbas, chairman of the Ra’am party, told the Israeli-Arab A-Shams Radio that his party, which has four seats in the 60-seat coalition, was mulling resigning, in protest of the police actions at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, injuring and arresting hundreds of Palestinians over the past three days during the clashes.