Middle East & North Africa

Tehran, IRNA – The parts of the Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) used in an attack on a military workshop in Isfahan have been transported into Iran by some anti-Revolution Kurdish militant groups deployed in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

According to confirmed information, the Kurdish militant groups received the parts of the MAVs and munitions from security services of other governments and delivered the shipment via difficult routes into a border city in northwestern Iran.

01 Feb 2023; MEMO: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has dismissed reports published by an Israeli channel that his ministry transferred tax money to the Palestinian Authority.

According to the Israeli media, Smotrich categorically denied the news reported by Israeli TV Channel 12 that his ministry transferred tax money to the Palestinian Authority prior to the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

01 Feb 2023; MEMO: The Unified National Leadership of Popular Resistance (UNLPR) yesterday called for the formation of popular committees to protect Palestinian villages and municipalities from illegal Jewish settlers.

This came during a meeting held in Ramallah to discuss the issue of the continuous aggression of Israeli Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages and properties near illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: Israeli banks impose higher interest rates on Palestinians citizens of Israel when compared to Jewish citizens of the occupation state.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: Turkiye signed a natural gas purchase agreement with Oman to buy an annual 1.4 billion cubic metres of gas for 10 years, Turkish Energy Minister, Fatih Donmez said, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Minister Donmez said that a delegation from Turkish state energy company, BOTAS, was in Oman for the agreement.

"We will purchase 1.4 billion cubic metres of gas annually and our agreement will be valid for 10 years," Fatih Donmez added.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: Unidentified drones attacked, on Sunday night, a convoy of refrigerated trucks in Al-Herri village in Al-Bukamal countryside in eastern Deir Ez-Zor, eastern Syria, destroying the trucks and killing and injuring people inside them, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SoHR) reported on Monday.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an electronic four-day transit visa on Monday for those arriving in the kingdom by air. The visa will be issued free of charge and will last for up to 96 hours.

The new visa service aims to facilitate visits to the kingdom for all purposes, including stop-overs and those wishing to perform Umrah and visit the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, or attend tourist events.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: The money exchange shop in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley was buzzing with business. Cell phones pinged endlessly and employees shouted out various rates as customers flocked in carrying plastic bags of the crashing local currency to buy US dollars, Reuters reports.

"Welcome to the Wall Street of Lebanon," grinned the storefront's owner, a machine gun leaning on a rack behind him in case of a robbery.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The visit is the last leg in Blinken's regional tour that also included Israel and Egypt.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: South Korea and Turkiye signed a deal for the engines to be used on Turkiye's domestic main battle tank (MBT) project, Altay, which was on hold after a deal with a German company collapsed, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, South Korean firm, SNT Heavy Industries, will supply Altay producer BMC with a 1,500-horsepower automatic transmission.