Dubai

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Nations special envoy on Yemen is visiting Iran for the first time to discuss Yemen’s crisis, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday, days after Washington announced an end to its support for Saudi-led military operations in Yemen.

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence across the Middle East, from Syria to Iraq and Yemen.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Tehran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iranian state TV reported.

The deal between Iran and six major powers limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms - an ambition Iran has long denied having - in return for the easing of U.S. and other sanctions.

DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Friday for the first time, Saudi state media said early on Saturday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud congratulated Blinken on taking up his new appointment last week and said the kingdom hopes to work with the United States to face common challenges and maintain regional stability, state news agency SPA reported.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — After opening itself to New Year’s revelers, Dubai is now being blamed by several countries for spreading the coronavirus abroad, even as questions swirl about the city-state’s ability to handle reported record spikes in virus cases.

The government’s Dubai Media Office says the sheikhdom is doing all it can to handle the pandemic, though it has repeatedly declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about its hospital capacity.

DUBAI/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters.

Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters.

Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a “a technical issue and it happens in shipping field”.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates on Sunday approved establishing an embassy in the city of Tel Aviv in Israel, the UAE government said on its Twitter account, citing a cabinet decision.

The UAE and Israel agreed to normalise relations in August.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain’s Gulf Air is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to delay some aircraft deliveries as the pandemic continues to distrupt global travel, its acting chief executive said on Sunday.

Airlines around the world have pushed back deliveries and cancelled orders, expecting a years-long recovery from the pandemic that has crushed global travel demand.

State-owned Gulf Air expects Airbus A320neo deliveries to be put on hold until 2022, though it hopes to receive at least three larger A321neos this year, Acting CEO Waleed Abdulhameed Al Alawi told Reuters.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of “tyrant” President Donald Trump’s era.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Wednesday, has said the United States will rejoin the pact, which includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear work, if Tehran resumes strict compliance.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Masks off the minute you step inside. Bars packed and pulsing like it’s 2019. Social media stars waving bottles of champagne. DJs spinning party tunes through multi-hour brunches.

Since becoming one of the world’s first destinations to open up for tourism, Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, has promoted itself as the ideal pandemic vacation spot. It cannot afford otherwise, analysts say, as the virus shakes the foundations of the city-state’s economy.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Five people who committed crimes in Saudi Arabia as minors have yet to have their death sentences revoked, according to two rights groups, nine months after the kingdom’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) announced an end to capital punishment for juvenile offenders.

The state-backed HRC in April cited a March royal decree by King Salman stipulating that individuals sentenced to death for crimes committed while minors will no longer face execution and would instead serve prison terms of up to 10 years in juvenile detention centers.