UAE

DUBAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Iran's military launched an annual exercise near the mouth of the Gulf on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, a few weeks before resumption of talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

"The military exercise in Iran's coast on the Gulf of Oman is to display the country's military might and readiness to confront our enemies," Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesman for the Zolfaqar-1400 drill, told state television.

DUBAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Non-Muslims will be allowed to marry, divorce and get joint child custody under civil law in Abu Dhabi according to a new decree issued on Sunday by its ruler, state news agency WAM said.

It is the latest step in the United Arab Emirates -- where personal status laws on marriage and divorce had been based on Islamic sharia principles, as in other Gulf states -- to maintain its competitive edge as a regional commercial hub.

DUBAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Iran will not back down "in any way" in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.

Washington said it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of "unlawful and inhumane sanctions".

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran seized a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman last month and still holds the vessel, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday, revealing the latest provocation in Mideast waters as tensions escalate between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

DUBAI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that if the United States was serious about rejoining Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, President Joe Biden could just issue an "executive order", the state-owned Iran newspaper reported.

The accord, under which Iran curtailed nuclear work seen as a risk of developing nuclear weapons in exchange for a lifting of global sanctions, unravelled in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States, prompting Tehran to breach limits on uranium enrichment set by the pact.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported $30.4 billion in third-quarter net income on Sunday, bolstered by a surge in oil prices and recovery in demand as the coronavirus pandemic eases.

Saudi Arabia’s majority state-owned oil giant Aramco said its net income more than doubled from $11.8 billion during the same three-month period a year earlier. Last year’s figure came after profits plunged dramatically as global lockdowns slammed oil prices. Net income refers to the amount left after taxes and preferred dividends have been paid.

DUBAI, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday the latest crisis with Lebanon has its origins in a Lebanese political setup that reinforces the dominance of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group and continues to allow endemic instability.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries expelled Lebanese envoys in a diplomatic spat that risks adding to Lebanon's economic crisis, following critical comments about the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen by Lebanon's Information Minister George Kordahi. 

DUBAI, October 26. /TASS/: The Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) may become a prototype for the new International Space Station, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday.

"We thought that, maybe, the Russian Orbital Service Station may become a prototype for the new ISS with even wider international participation," he noted, adding that international cooperation is very important.

He stated that Russia is ready to take part in international orbital station building projects.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A cyberattack targeted gas stations Tuesday across Iran, shutting down a government system that manages fuel subsidies and leaving angry motorists stranded in long lines at shuttered stations.

DUBAI, October 25. /TASS/: Crew Dragon spaceships of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company have gained substantial experience for Russian cosmonauts to travel aboard them as part of cross flights, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"From our viewpoint, SpaceX has gained sufficient experience for representatives of our crews to make flights aboard its spacecraft," the Roscosmos chief told reporters at the 72nd international astronautical congress.