Dubai

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates was the target of cyber attacks after establishing formal ties with Israel, the Gulf Arab state’s cyber security head said on Sunday.

The UAE in August broke with decades of Arab policy when it agreed to forge ties with Israel in a move that angered Palestinians and some Muslim states and communities. Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Oman’s foreign minister said on Saturday the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East had discussed with his country the possibility of Washington designating Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement as a terrorist group.

“Yes, that was raised,” Sayyed Badr Al Busaidi told a Bahrain summit in response to a question on whether the potential blacklisting had been broached by David Schenker during a recent visit to Muscat.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain will not allow the import of Israeli goods produced in settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, state news agency BNA reported, disavowing comments made by the Gulf state’s trade minister earlier this week.

Bahrain’s Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani had voiced openness to settlement imports, adding that Manama would make no distinction between products produced in Israel or in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The island kingdom of Bahrain said it has become the second nation in the world to grant an emergency-use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

The state-run Bahrain News Agency made the announcement on Friday night, following an earlier announcement by the United Kingdom on Wednesday, making Britain the first in the world.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s total cases of novel coronavirus hit 1 million on Thursday with 13,922 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, as the Middle East’s worst-affected country’s death toll reached 49,348.

Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV that 358 people had died from the coronavirus since Wednesday and that confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection had reached 1,003,494.

Iran has introduced tougher restrictions to stem a third wave of coronavirus infections, including closing non-essential businesses and travel curbs.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Saturday accused Israel of killing the country’s top nuclear scientist, believed by the West to be the architect of Tehran’s secret military nuclear programme.

Iran’s clerical and military rulers have threatened revenge for Friday’s killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which could further increase tensions in the Middle East region and beyond.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Travel agencies in countries across the Middle East and Africa say the United Arab Emirates has temporarily halted issuing new visas to their citizens, a so-far unexplained ban on visitors amid both the coronavirus pandemic and the UAE’s normalization deal with Israel.

Confusion over the UAE visa ban targeting 11 Muslim-majority nations, in addition to Lebanon and Kenya, swirled after a leaked document from Dubai’s state-owned airport free zone surfaced this week, declaring restrictions against a range of nationalities.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s economy could grow 4.4% next year if U.S. President-elect Joe Biden lifts sanctions that have contributed to a deep three-year recession, although the COVID-19 crisis could limit foreign investment, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said.

Biden’s victory in the Nov. 3 U.S. election has raised chances that the United States could rejoin a deal Iran reached with world powers in 2015, under which sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park.

A source briefed on the matter told Reuters the visas had temporarily stopped being issued to Afghans, Pakistanis and citizens of several other countries over security concerns, but did not provide details of those concerns.