Mideast

Oil prices surged to their highest in almost four months after a US drone strike killed an Iranian commander on Jan 3 and Iran retaliated with missiles launched against US bases in Iraq.

TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran has neutralised US plans in the Middle East, in a speech Wednesday marking the Persian New Year. "Those who interfere in all the affairs of the world protest and ask: 'Why does Iran intervene in the affairs of Iraq and Syria?' What is it to you? The Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in neutralising US plans in the region," he said. Khamenei accused the United States of planning to "create oppressive and rebel groups like Daesh (the Islamic State…

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday at the start of talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas that he had discussed the Middle East conflict with his US counterpart Donald Trump. "I just spoke with American President Trump," Putin told Abbas before continuing the talks behind closed doors. "Obviously we spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." The Palestinian leader was visiting Moscow in a bid to secure Putin's support after Trump outraged the Palestinians and their allies by recognising…

JAKARTA: Indonesia will stop sending new domestic workers to 21 Middle Eastern countries, reports said Tuesday, after the recent execution of two Indonesian women in Saudi Arabia angered Jakarta.

DUBAI: Three weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen have led to defections of army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, military sources said, dealing a blow to his efforts to stage a comeback.

PARIS: The Muslim Council in France, home to Europe's largest Islamic minority, denounced the persecution of Middle East Christians on Tuesday and said mosques across the country would pray for them this week.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday backed Egyptian efforts to broker a durable Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza but also called for a longer-term solution that provides for Israeli security while offering Gaza residents hope they will not remain "permanently closed off from the world."