Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Western and U.S. sanctions have become "a blunt sword" after excessive use, Abolfazl Amoui, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, said Saturday.

A number of countries are thinking about de-dollarizing their trade by using local currencies, Amoui told official IRNA news agency.

The Russian and Iranian banks have already adopted new financial mechanisms for trade transactions excluding the dollar, he noted.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Russian officials visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice in recent weeks to view weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire to use in its war against Ukraine, the White House said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military attacked what it said was a Hamas military site in the Gaza Strip early Saturday in response to a pair of rocket attacks overnight. The exchange that took place hours after U.S. President Joe Biden concluded a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The army said its fighter jets struck an underground complex containing raw materials used in the production of rockets.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, whose country is mired in political crisis, says it is in Iraq’s interest to keep pushing for a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to ease regional tensions.

Speaking to The Associated Press Friday evening, Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Iraq intended to keep up its role hosting talks between the two Mideast neighbors whose rivalry has often played out in Iraq, leading to perpetual paralysis.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Joe Biden, speaking at a summit of Arab leaders, said Saturday that the United States “will not walk away” from the Middle East as he tries to ensure stability in a volatile part of the world and boost the global flow of oil to reverse rising gas prices.

His remarks, delivered at the Gulf Cooperation Council on the final leg of a four-day Middle East tour, came amid concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and support for militants in the region.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Negotiations to bring Iran back into compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear accord are coming to an end, but it is not clear if they will result in an agreement between Tehran and world powers, a senior EU official said on Friday, Reuters reports.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on Iran, and re-imposed harsh US sanctions, spurring Tehran to breach nuclear limits in the pact.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi cleric, Moqtada Al-Sadr's followers thronged the streets of Baghdad on Friday, answering the populist leader's call to a mass prayer in a show of strength to his political rivals, Reuters reports.

Sadr, a Shia Muslim, whose party came first in a general election in October, has vowed to disband powerful Iraqi militia groups loyal to Shia Iran and to hold corrupt Iraqi politicians to account.

15 July 2022; MEMO: US President Joe Biden made a statement on Friday evening after he met with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at Al-Salam RoyalPalace in Jeddah. This came following a two-day visit to Israel and a few hours spent in the occupied West Bank.

16 July 2022; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has announced that the Jeddah conference in Saudi Arabia "will not witness the discussion of normalisation with Israel" and stressed that discussion on the topic is an attempt to confuse Iraq's restoration of its role in the region.

16 July 2022; MEMO: Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned on Friday of the possibility of losing the opportunity of the two-state solution, Arab48.com reported.