Category: Middle East

UK Condemns Iran’s ‘Inhumane’ Sentencing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

The British government has condemned the Iranian regime after British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given a further one-year jail term for spreading “propaganda” against the regime. Zaghari-Ratcliffe completed a five-year sentence in March on spying charges, the last year of which was spent under house arrest due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus…


UK Condemns ‘Inhumane’ Sentencing of Dual Citizen in Iran

The British government has condemned the Iranian regime after British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given a further one-year jail term for spreading “propaganda” against the regime. Zaghari-Ratcliffe completed a five-year sentence in March on spying charges, the last year of which was spent under house arrest due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus…


Iran to Bar Travellers From India Over Covid-19 Variant, Officials Say

Iran said on Saturday that it would bar travelers from India over a COVID-19 variant to avert its spread in the already stricken country. Officials, however, did not say if any cases of the variant first identified in India in late March had been detected in Iran, the epicenter of the pandemic in the Middle…


At Least 82 Die in Baghdad COVID-19 Hospital Fire: Interior Ministry

BAGHDAD—A fire sparked by an oxygen tank explosion killed at least 82 people and injured 110 at a hospital in Baghdad that had been equipped to house COVID-19 patients, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Sunday. “We urgently need to review safety measures at all hospitals to prevent such a painful incident from happening in…


Fire From Oxygen Tank Blast in Baghdad COVID-19 Hospital Kills 82

BAGHDAD—A fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad took at least 82 lives and forced some people to leap through windows out of the burning building, witnesses and authorities said on Sunday. As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi blamed negligence and suspended his Health Minister…


At Least 27 Dead in Fire at Baghdad Hospital for COVID Patients: Medical Sources

BAGHDAD, Iraq—At least 27 people were killed and 46 injured in a fire on Saturday at a hospital in southeastern Baghdad that had been equipped to house COVID-19 patients, medical sources at three nearby hospitals said. The fire at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area of the Iraqi capital occurred after an…


Biden Recognizes Atrocities Against Armenians as Genocide

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden has formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century were “genocide”—using a term for the atrocities that his White House predecessors have avoided for decades. With the acknowledgment, Biden followed through on a campaign promise he made…


Biden Speaks to Erdogan as Armenian Genocide Question Looms

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden spoke with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday as Biden prepared to move forward with a campaign pledge to formally recognize that atrocities committed against the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago were genocide. The U.S. and Turkish governments, in separate statements on the call, made…


General: Afghan Military Will Collapse Without Some US Help

WASHINGTON—Afghanistan’s military “will certainly collapse” without some continued American support once all U.S. troops are withdrawn, the top U.S. general for the Middle East told Congress Thursday. Gen. Frank McKenzie also said he was very concerned about the Afghan government’s ability to protect the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said…


Israel Says Syrian Missile Was Misfire, Not Attack on Israeli Nuclear Reactor

JERUSALEM—The Israeli military said Thursday that a Syrian missile that reached deep into Israeli territory and set off air raid sirens near the country’s top-secret nuclear reactor was the result of a misfire and not a deliberate attack. The missile landed in southern Israel early Thursday, prompting Israel to respond with airstrikes on the missile…