Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, July 31 (Reuters) - Iran has responded to top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell's proposal aimed at salvaging Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and seeks a swift conclusion to negotiations, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator said on Sunday.

"We shared our proposed ideas, both on substance & form, to pave the way for a swift conclusion of Vienna negotiations," Ali Bagheri Kani tweeted, without giving any more details on Iran's position.

TEHRAN, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian military commander said on Sunday that the reach of U.S. global political influence is shrinking, semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami made the remarks in an address to a conference attended by the IRGC's political directors.

All U.S. attempts to form governments in regional countries are ending in failure "in a domino fashion" as is manifest in Washington's escape from Afghanistan and other defeats, Salami said.

TEHRAN, July 31 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday that new round of talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal will probably be held soon, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Given the European sides' efforts to resume the talks, Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, has hinted that the new round of the negotiations will probably be held in the coming days, Yaqoub Reza-Zadeh, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told ISNA.

BEIRUT (AP) — A section of Beirut’s massive port grain silos, shredded in the 2020 explosion, collapsed in a huge cloud of dust on Sunday after a weekslong fire, triggered by grains that had fermented and ignited in the summer heat.

The northern block of the silos toppled after what sounded like an explosion, kicking up thick gray dust that enveloped the iconic structure and the port next to a residential area. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Sunday aired drone footage of Israeli ships in a disputed gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting the tension at the center of U.S.-mediated maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel.

The footage was aired as the U.S. energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, was landing in Beirut to mediate ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel over their sea borders. Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory under ongoing maritime border negotiations, whereas Israel says it lies within its internationally recognized economic waters.

BAGHDAD (AP) — With mattresses strewn about, food trucked in and protesters playacting as lawmakers, hundreds of followers of an influential Shiite cleric were camped out Sunday inside the Iraqi parliament after toppling security walls around the building and storming in the previous day.

30 July 2022; MEMO: The Tunisian Ennahda Movement has announced that the boycott of 75 per cent of those registered on the electoral roll for the referendum on the new Constitution: "Is evidence that the constitution is popularly rejected and completely null."

30 July 2022; MEMO: Iran has confirmed its arrest of a Swedish citizen on charges of espionage, two months after it was first reported by foreign media.

According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), a statement by Iran's intelligence ministry "announced that a citizen of the Kingdom of Sweden was arrested on espionage charges."

30 July 2022; MEMO: Tunisian President Kais Saied announced on Friday his rejection of what he considers external interference in Tunisia's affairs and an infringement on its sovereignty. This came due to statements made by its partners abroad following the referendum on a new Constitution.

In a statement by the presidency, President Saied expressed his: "Rejection of any form of interference in national affairs."

31 July 2022; MEMO: The Israeli Air Force announced a temporary halt in its fleet of F-35 fighter jets on Saturday, a day after the reports of US concerns about defects in pilot ejection systems, Anadolu Agency reported.

The announcement came after Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, chief of the Israeli Air Force, held a situation assessment meeting following the "information received from the US regarding an inspection for a defect in the ejection mechanism in the pilot's seat in the F-35 aircraft."