Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish forces have killed the leader of the Islamic State group during an operation in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Sunday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told TRT Turk television in an interview that the IS leader, code-named Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, was killed in a strike conducted on Saturday.

Erdogan said the Turkish intelligence agency, MIT, had been following him “for a long time.”

“We will continue our struggle against terrorist organizations without discriminating against any of them,” Erdogan said in the interview.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: Moscow on Sunday claimed that its forces took control of four more urban quarters in the frontline Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The Russian Defense Ministry said units of the Airborne Forces pinned down Ukrainian forces in the northern and southern outskirts of the city.

Ukraine did not immediately respond to the claims.

Tehran, IRNA – Iran will start construction of six steam units in two power plants with an investment of 800 million euros, according to the CEO of Saba Group, an energy holding operated by government-affiliated Mostazafan Foundation.

Mohsen Amiri said on Sunday that the Iranian government had approved the allocation of funds for the six new steam power plants, adding that Iran's National Development Fund will provide for the foreign exchange investment needed in the projects.

Tehran, IRNA - Iranian security forces have arrested a foreign national who influenced fomenting unrest in southeastern Iran, an informed source said.

The individual, identified as Molavi Abdulaziz Omar Zehi, was apprehended Sunday for his role in causing insecurity in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the source said.

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has highlighted the drastic shift in public opinion in the United States toward the Zionist regime, saying Americans are entitled to question their country’s support for the occupying regime which comes at the expense of their own interests.

In a Twitter thread published on Sunday, Kanaani said the latest opinion polls in the US demonstrate a “tangible shift” in public opinion across the country toward the “apartheid nature of the [Zionist] regime.”

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin was dismissed from his post after failing to regain the vote of confidence of lawmakers in the Iranian parliament.

Fatemi Amin appeared in a parliament impeachment session to defend his performance on Sunday.

The impeachment motion gained the approval votes of 162 out of 272 lawmakers present in the session. Some 102 MPs voted against the motion, two abstained and six votes were dismissed.

Tehran, IRNA- Ajit Doval, the national security advisor to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is scheduled to visit Tehran on Monday at the invitation of Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani.

During his one-day visit to Tehran, Doval will meet with Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) of Iran, and other senior Iranian officials to discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest, IRNA reported on Sunday.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities have started plans to confiscate 70 Palestinian homes in the Old City of the southern occupied West Bank governorate of Hebron.

Director of the Hebron Construction Committee Imad Hamdan said the Israeli occupation plans to hand over the Palestinian homes to Israeli settlers.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: China has resumed construction work on a military base in the United Arab Emirates in defiance of displeasure by the United States, leaked intelligence documents have revealed.

According to the Washington Post, leaked US intelligence documents that it obtained reportedly show that Chinese plans to continue construction in its military base in the UAE have gone ahead.

30 Apr 2023; MEMO: Turkish defence firm Baykar aims to begin production of its new unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) next year which is already attracting international interest, its chairman Selcuk Bayraktar said, reports Reuters.