April 18, 2016 - JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - A bus has exploded in Jerusalem, leaving around 16 casualties, Israeli media report, citing emergency medical services.
The massive explosion occurred in Hebron Way, west Jerusalem, with police citing "a militant attack" as the probable cause of the blast.
Multiple social media posts show smoke coming out of the burned-out bus, which is standing in the middle of the road.
Initial reports indicated there were 20 casualties. Now Jerusalem Post reports 16 people were injured in the blast, with two injured "seriously," one "moderately," and five "lightly." The newspapers cite sources in the Magen David Adom emergency service.
Some of the injured were evacuated to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Others were taken to Hadassah Hospital nearby.
The bus was reportedly not carrying any passengers when it exploded, an Israel Police spokesperson said, as cited in the media. The casualties were apparently due to being close to the blast.
“When I arrived at the scene I saw two buses going up in flames and about 10 causalities among them, one who was mortally wounded and another in serious condition,” Mickey Cohen, head of the Jerusalem emergency response service, told Haaretz.
Jerusalem district police say the bus could have been blown up by an explosive device or targeted by a suicide bomber who detonated the device inside the bus, according to news outlet Arutz Sheva.
Eugenia Ugrinovich, a freelance journalist in Jerusalem, has told RT that the police confirmed "there was an explosive device at the back of the bus that caused [the] fire," saying the casualties were suffering from injuries typical for an explosion.
She added that Jerusalem will be on high alert with security tightened in public places for days to come. The bus blast was the first since 2012, Ugrinovich said, adding that lone-wolf attacks like this are very difficult to prevent and will surely happen again in future.
According to the police, the bus departed from the southern part of the city and arrived at Moshe Baram Street, when apparently an explosion was heard and the bus caught fire.
Suicide attacks on Israeli buses took place regularly in the early 2000s, and became a hallmark of the Palestinian uprising. In March 2002, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a bus in Jerusalem, leaving 25 injured. Several months later, another suicide bomb attack on a bus in northern Israel killed 17 and injured 43, most of them IDF soldiers.
Violence between Israelis and Palestinians has abated somewhat recently after a series of stabbing attacks last year. At least 21 Israelis and 131 Palestinians were killed in that spike of violence. In early January, at least two people were killed and several others injured following a shooting at a bar in central Tel Aviv.
פיגוע בי-ם: פיצוץ באוטובוס ריק, אוטובוס לידו גם עלה באש שם נפצעו 2 קשה 3 בינוני 5 קל. צילום מדברים תקשורת pic.twitter.com/NBOpLx3Zu6
The gunman was described by an eyewitness as being "light-skinned and not Eastern looking," and as carrying an M-16. Further reports said the shooter, identified as 29-year-old Nashad Milkham, reportedly stole the gun from his father, who worked in the security industry.
The blast aboard the bus was caused by a bomb, Brachie Sprung, a spokeswoman for Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, told Reuters: "It was small, but it was definitely a bomb."
WATCH: Jerusalem bus explosion.
Police say the bus explosion was a terror attack after bomb disposal experts found parts of an explosive device at the scene.
Ruslan Kandaurov, head of the Russian Embassy’s consular section, has told TASS that one of the people injured in the blast is an Israeli-Russian dual national, who is presently “in moderate condition.”
Jonathan Hessen, a political analyst in Israel, told RT that Hamas has already claimed responsibility for the attack, carried out in response "for the atrocities, as they put it, committed by the State of Israel towards Al-Aqsa mosque and the Temple Mount." He said that Israeli leadership is committed to retaliate against any threat to citizens, but added that it will not necessarily escalate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. - RT.
April 16, 2016 - IRAN - The floods have washed away cars and blocked roads. Iranian railway
authority has canceled all trains scheduled for Friday to and from the
southern parts of the country.
Iran's Red Crescent says 126 cities have
been affected by the floods. In Khuzestan, nearly 21-hundred people have
been evacuated to safer areas.
Several people have been injured in the
southern province while some three-hundred homes are under water in
Lorestan.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has ordered authorities to
mobilize all resources available to provide relief assistance to the
flood-stricken people.
WATCH: Several killed by heavy floods across Iran.
"Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap."- Isaiah 17:1, The Bible.
February 13, 2016 - SYRIA - Russia warned of “a new world war" starting in Syria on Thursday after a dramatic day in which Gulf states threatened to send in ground forces.
Foreign and defence ministers of the leading international states backing different factions in the war-torn country met in separate meetings in Munich and Brussels following the collapse of the latest round of peace talks.
Both Russia and the United States demanded ceasefires in the long-running civil war so that the fight could be concentrated against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) - but each on their own, conflicting terms. But the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, staged their own intervention, saying they were committed to sending ground troops to the country. Their favoured rebel groups have been pulverised by Russian air raids and driven back on the ground by Iranian-supplied pro-regime troops.
They said their declared target was Isil. But the presence of troops from Gulf states which have funded the Syrian rebels would be taken as a hostile act by the Assad regime and its backers, and a sign that they were committed to staking their claim to a say in the final Syrian settlement.
A girl asks a passerby for help to pay a
medical bill, as her father sits in his wheelchair, in the Douma area
of Damascus earlier this month. Photo: Reuters
Russia issued a stark warning of the potential consequences. "The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?" its prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, told Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper in an interview due to be published on Friday but released on Thursday night.
“It would be impossible to win such a war quickly, especially in the Arab world, where everybody is fighting against everybody.
"All sides must be compelled to sit at the negotiating table instead of unleashing a new world war.”
Russia did not specify a date publicly but diplomats said that they had suggested March 1, which the Americans say would leave them another two weeks to achieve their military goals, including the defeat of “moderate” rebel forces in the north around Aleppo.
The United States countered by demanding an immediate ceasefire.
An Islamic State position on Kobane hill is taken out by an allied airstrike.
The rebels, whose main negotiators have been touring Europe in the wake of the collapse of the Geneva peace talks and the renewed assault on Aleppo, say a ceasefire can only happen in conjunction with a negotiated “political transition” - something which looks ever more unlikely in light of regime victories on the ground.
Under the United Nations security council resolution passed in December, any ceasefire would automatically exclude Isil, the local al-Qaeda branch Jabhat al-Nusra, which operates throughout rebel territory, and other UN-designated terrorist groups.
Since these are being struck by both the United States and Russia, as well as the regime, the terms of the resolution mean that the only group that would have to stop fighting under the terms of a ceasefire would be the “moderate rebels” backed by the West.
This they are unlikely to do voluntarily.
A
girl carrying a toddler inspects damage, in a site hit by what
activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force, in
Douma.
Saudi Arabia is said to be furious that their main regional rival, Iran, has been allowed to consolidate its power bases in both Iraq and Syria because of the civil wars in both countries and under the cover of an international air campaign supposedly targeting Isil.
Its defence ministry spokesman, Brig Gen Ahmed al-Assiri, said its decision to send ground troops to Syria was “irreversible”.
The kingdom, along with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is offering to provide the troops the United States-led coalition are needed to take on Isil on the ground under coalition air cover.
Michael Fallon, who held talks in Brussels on the fringes of a defence ministers meeting with deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, said he welcomed the Saudi offer.
“The Saudis are leading the Islamic military coalition,” he said.
“We've always made clear this is a campaign that can't be won by western troops doing the fighting. It can only be won in the end by local forces that have the support of the local population.” That last phrase appears to refer to the undesirability in western minds of Isil being defeated from the air only for pro-regime troops to retake the territory it now holds, which is overwhelming Sunni and was previously in the hands of non-Isil Sunni-led rebels.
The Saudis are also testing American willingness to “lead from the front” in Syria in the face of the apparent defeat of their favoured rebels at the hands of an assertive Russian intervention.
“Saudi Arabia will not step back from its offer to send ground troops to Syria as part of an International Coalition operation,” Mohammed al-Yahya, a London-based Saudi analyst said.
Damaged buildings in the Douma area of Damascus.
“The strategies used to fight Isil so far have not adequately weakened it, let alone eliminated it. It has become clear that Assad and the forces allied to him, namely Hizbollah, Russia, and Iran, are focusing on fighting the Assad regime’s opposition, not Isil.” Meanwhile on the ground, Russian-backed Kurdish forces took new ground from the rebels near the Turkish border, seizing the Minnegh air base, a highly symbolic target as it was seized from the regime first by Isil and then from them by non-Isil rebels two years ago after some of the fiercest battles of the whole war.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said more than 50,000 people had now been displaced north of Aleppo in the latest bout of fighting, calling the situation “grotesque”.
“The warring parties in Syria are constantly sinking to new depths, without apparently caring in the slightest about the death and destruction they are wreaking across the country,” he said. - Telegraph.
A general view shows a unit of South
Pars Gas field in Asalouyeh Seaport, north of Persian Gulf, Iran
November 19, 2015.
Reuters/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA
February 7, 2016 - IRAN - Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by India and other buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros, too, looking to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar following last month's sanctions relief.
A source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told Reuters that Iran will charge in euros for its recently signed oil contracts with firms including French oil and gas major Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil.
"In our invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil will have to pay in euros, considering the exchange rate versus the dollar around the time of delivery," the NIOC source said.
Lukoil and Total declined to comment, while Cepsa did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran has also told its trading partners who owe it billions of dollars that it wants to be paid in euros rather than U.S. dollars, said the person, who has direct knowledge of the matter.
Iran was allowed to recover some of the funds frozen under U.S.-led sanctions in currencies other than dollars, such as the Omani rial and UAE dhiram.
Switching oil sales to euros makes sense as Europe is now one of Iran's biggest trading partners.
"Many European companies are rushing to Iran for business opportunities, so it makes sense to have revenue in euros," said Robin Mills, chief executive of Dubai-based Qamar Energy.
Iran has pushed for years to have the euro replace the dollar as the currency for international oil trade. In 2007, Tehran failed to persuade OPEC members to switch away from the dollar, which its then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called a "worthless piece of paper".
The NIOC source said Iran's central bank instituted a policy while the country was under sanctions over its disputed nuclear program to carry out foreign trade in euros.
"Iran shifted to the euro and canceled trade in dollars because of political reasons," the source said.
BOOST FOR EURO TRADE
Iran has the world's fourth-largest proved reserves of crude oil, and expects to quickly increase production, which could lead to tens of billions of euros worth of new oil trade.
Iran's insistence on being paid in euros rather than dollars is also a sign of an uneasy truce between Tehran and Washington even after last month's lifting of most sanctions.
U.S. officials estimate about $100 billion (69 billion pound) of Iranian assets were frozen abroad, around half of which Tehran could access as a result of sanctions relief.
It is not clear how much of those funds are oil dues that Iran would want back in euros.
India owes Tehran about $6 billion for oil delivered during the sanctions years.
Last month, NIOC's director general for international affairs told Reuters that Iran "would prefer to receive (oil money owed) in some foreign currency, which for the time being is going to be euro."
Indian government sources confirmed Iran is looking to be paid in euros.
Tehran has asked to be paid using the exchange rates at the time the oil was delivered, along with interest for those payment delays, Indian and Iranian sources said.
Indian officials are working on a mechanism that could involve local banks United Commercial Bank (UCO) and IDBI Bank for handling payments to Iran, one Indian government source said.
UCO CEO R.K. Takkar said the bank is involved in payments to Iran, but did not say if there were any plans to change the payment mechanism. IDBI CEO Kishor Kharat could not be reached for comment.
India could also try to resume payments through Turkey's Halkbank, a channel it stopped using in 2012, or by direct transfer to Iranian banks through the global SWIFT transaction network.
With Iran now again linking to international lenders through SWIFT, the NIOC source said it was easy for Tehran to be paid in any currency it wants, adding: "And we want euros." - Reuters.
USGS earthquake locations of 2.5 magnitude or higher over the last day.
January 12, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes several of the most noteworthy earthquakes to the planet over the last 24 hours, as we continue to monitor the global seismic uptick.
Earthquake reported in northern Alberta
Seismic measuring station near Fox Creek, AB. Global News
An earthquake was reported outside Fox Creek, Alta. by Natural Resources Canada.
NRC preliminary analysis has the earthquake at 4.5 in magnitude. It happened at 11:27 a.m. (MST) Tuesday about 31 kilometres west of Fox Creek.
NRC said the quake was “lightly felt” in Fox Creek and St. Albert. There were no reports of damage.
It’s not unusual for earthquakes to be reported in the Fox Creek area. There have been about 200 quakes in the area since December 2013. Alberta averages 30 earthquakes each year.Last year, there were two 4.4 magnitude earthquakes in the area. Authorities said both quakes were the result of hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry.It’s too early to determine if Tuesday’s earthquake was a result of fracking, NRC said.
However, the premier is asking that an Alberta Energy Regulator review of fracking be sped up.
“My officials have been in touch with the AER to find out exactly what the situation is and where we can get more details on that,” Notley said.
“Generally speaking the AER has been engaged in a review of fracking in particular as it relates to this issue and I’ll be asking them to speed that review up a little bit more to come up with some recommendations that we can consider sooner rather than later.”
The AER announced new requirements in February 2015, after several seismic events in the Fox Creek area. If a seismic event measuring 4.0 or greater occurs within five kilometres of an operator, it must cease operations and inform the AER. If a seismic event between 2.0 and 4.0 occurs, operators must inform AER and invoke their response plan.
The AER reports three events measuring 4.0 or greater in 2015: Jan. 14 (4.23), Jan. 23 (4.61) and June 13 (4.26).
Fox Creek is 263 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. - Global News.
Small earthquake rattles Pittsburgh, third this week
A small earthquake hit north of Pittsburg early Tuesday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The 2.9 magnitude quake struck around 4:24 a.m. and was centered 8
kilometers (about 5 miles) north-northwest of Pittsburg, USGS said.
The quake is centered around the same spot where two other quakes hit Monday, which is near the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area.
Another 2.9 magnitude quake hit around 8:24 p.m.
A smaller earthquake was also recorded Monday at 2:30 a.m. with a magnitude of 2.6. - KRON4.
5.9 magnitude earthquake recorded in southern Indian Ocean
USGS earthquake location.
A moderate earthquake with magnitude 5.9 was reported
Southwest Indian Ridge (0 miles) on Tuesday.
A tsunami warning has not
been issued.
The earthquake
occurred at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
The 5.9-magnitude earthquake has
occurred at 13:45:11 / 1:45 pm (local time epicenter). Exact location,
longitude 58.1351° East, latitude -31.2719° South. - ENT.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Afghanistan and parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab late on Tuesday.
According to Express News, tremors were felt in Chitral, Shangla, Gilgit, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal and surrounding areas.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said epicenter of the earthquake was recorded in Jurm district of northeastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.
There were no immediate reports regarding the casualties and damages caused. - Tribune.
Three moderate to strong earthquakes hit Indonesia
USGS earthquake location.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Kepulauan Barat Daya at 23:39:33 UTC at a depth of 251.3 km.
At 12:27:28 UTC, another tremor measuring magnitude 5.1 struck northwest of Tobelo at a depth of 59.6 km.
Several hours later, a magnitude 4.8 also struck near the Toledo region at a depth of 10.0 km.
There were no initial reports of any damage.
4.6 magnitude earthquake strikes Iran, tremors felt in Azerbaijan
USGS earthquake location.
Tremors were also felt in Azerbaijan as an earthquake of 4.6 magnitude struck Iran Jan.12.
The earthquake was recorded in Iran 20 km north from Azerbaijan's
Yardimli district at 6:38am local time, the Republican Seismic Survey
Center of told APA.
The earthquake that occured at a depth of 27 km was also felt in 3.0-magnitude in Azerbaijan. - APA.
USGS earthquake locations of 2.5 magnitude or higher over the last day.
January 9, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes several of the most noteworthy earthquakes to the planet over the last 24 hours, as we continue to monitor the global seismic uptick.
4.6 magnitude tremor shakes Zambia, collapsing one building
USGS earthquake location.
Zambia experienced a 4.6 magnitude on the Richter scale an
earthquake/earth tremour at 03;05, (05:05 Zambian time) 74km South of
Lusaka and 38km from Kafue on January 9, 2015.
This comes a day after a heavy downpour following a dry spell claimed
nearly seven lives in the capital Lusaka.
A building on the outskirts of
the city's Central Business District also collapsed, but there were no
casualties. - Zambia Reports.
4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Southern Fars province, Iran
An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale jolted the town of
Bairam in Fars province, Southern Iran, on Saturday morning, IRNA
reported.
The Seismological center of Fars province affiliated to the Geophysics
Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 00:14 hours local
time.
The epicenter of the quake was registered at 53.5 in longitude and 27.4 in latitude.
There has yet been no report on the possible number of casualties or damage to properties by the quake.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is
prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in Kerman province in
December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of its
population, and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on
the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000
injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It
devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.
In August 2012, two quakes in Northwestern Iran also claimed the lives of 306 people and injured more than 4500 others. - Trend News Agency.
5.4 magnitude quake hits southeast of Naze, Japan
USGS earthquake location.
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale jolted 77 km SSE of
Naze, Japan, at 14:12:37 GMT on Saturday (22:12:37 Beijing Time), the
U.S. Geological Survey said.
The epicenter, with a depth of 37.55 km, was initially determined to
be at 27.693 degrees north latitude and 129.6972 degrees east longitude. - APD News.
"That the year the Messiah will arrive when all the nations of the world will antagonize each other and threaten with war. The king of Persia (Iran) antagonizes the King of Arabia (Saudi Arabia) with war. The King of Arabia goes to Edom (The Western Countries, headed by USA) for advice. Then the King of Persia destroys the world (and since that cannot be done with conventional weapons it must mean nuclear which can destroy most of the world). And all the nations of the world begin to panic and are afraid, and Israel too is afraid as to how to defend from this. G-d then says to them “Do not fear for everything that I have done is for your benefit, to destroy the evil kingdom of Edom and eradicate evil from this world so that the Messiah can come, your time of redemption is now." - Yalkut Shimoni, 2000-Year-Old Rabbinic Literature.
January 4, 2016 - UNITED STATES - The fallout of Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shiite cleric is spreading
beyond a spat between the Saudis and Iranians, as other Middle East
nations chose sides Monday and world powers Russia and China weighed in.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran -- two Middle Eastern powerhouses -- quickly deteriorated following Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr Saturday.
Hours after the death sentence was carried out, protesters in Shiite-majority Iran attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. The Saudis cut diplomatic relations with Iran over the attack on its embassy.
Officials from both countries defended their positions Monday and showed no sign of backing down.
Saudi Arabia suspended all flights to and from Iran. It also sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council accusing Iranian authorities of failing in their duties to protect the Saudi embassy.
Jaberi Ansari, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, said his country is committed to protecting diplomatic missions and reiterated that no Saudi diplomats were harmed -- or even present -- during the attack.
He accused Saudi Arabia of "looking for some excuses to pursue its own unwise policies to further tension in the region."
Meanwhile, some nations picked sides while others called for calm.
Here's the latest on where things stand:
Picking sides
Bahrain announced Monday that it was severing diplomatic ties with Iran, citing Tehran's "blatant and dangerous interference" in Bahrain and other Arab countries.
The United Arab Emirates said it was "downgrading" its diplomatic relations with Iran. The UAE recalled its ambassador in Tehran and said it would also reduce the number of diplomats stationed in Iran, according to state news agency WAM. A government statement said the UAE "has taken this exceptional step in light of Iran's ongoing interference in internal (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Arab affairs that has recently reached unprecedented levels."
The diplomatic row spread to Africa, where Sudan -- a majority Sunni Muslim country -- expelled the Iranian ambassador and the entire Iranian diplomatic mission in the country. Sudan also recalled its ambassador from Iran.
The Saudi government announced the Sudanese move, saying Sudan acted because of "the Iranian interference in the region through a sectarian approach."
Russia and China, two of the biggest geopolitical players in the hemisphere, released statements calling for restraint between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
"Moscow is concerned about escalation of the situation in the Middle East with participation of the key regional players," the Russian foreign ministry said Monday. Russia called on the Saudis and Iranians to "show restraint and to avoid any steps that might escalate the situation and raise tensions including interreligious ones."
China's foreign ministry said it is paying close attention to the events and hopes "all parties can remain calm and restrained, use dialogue and negotiations to properly resolve differences, and work together to safeguard the region's peace and stability."
Could the diplomatic war of words boil over?
It had -- even before Saudi Arabia announced its decision to cut ties with Iran, said Fawaz Gerges, chair of contemporary Middle Eastern studies at the London School of Economics.
"Their conflict is playing out on Arab streets big time," he said.
Already the two nations were on opposite sides of conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain and Lebanon. Now, he said, the question is how much worse things might get.
"The situation is extremely volatile between the two most powerful states in the Gulf, Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran. You have a war of words. You have war by proxies ... This really could get very ugly and dangerous in the next few weeks and next few months," Gerges said.
It's possible a more direct military conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran could erupt, said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a CNN military analyst.
"That's the key issue," he said. "This is spiraling very quickly."
Why are there tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia?
It's nothing new that the two countries aren't seeing eye to eye.
"Iran and Saudi Arabia are neither natural allies nor natural enemies, but natural rivals who have long competed as major oil producers and self-proclaimed defenders of Shia and Sunni Islam, respectively," University of South Florida Professor Mohsen M. Milani wrote in an analysis for CNN in 2011.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are painting themselves as victims as tensions between them escalate, Gerges said.
"What you have is not only a clash of narratives, you have basically a huge divide, a war by proxy, a cold war taking place between Saudi Arabia and Iran," he said. "It's a war about geopolitics. It's about power. It's about influence."
It wasn't long before protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, hurling Molotov cocktails and cheering as the building caught fire. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for divine revenge against Saudi Arabia.
"It was almost inevitable that this (the severing of diplomatic relations) would follow, especially since the response from Iran, completely expectedly, was full of rage, and Iran's supreme leader essentially summoned the wrath of God against Saudi Arabia," said Bobby Ghosh, a CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of Quartz.
But analysts say looking within Iran and Saudi Arabia gives a greater understanding of why both countries have an interest in fueling the rivalry.
"There are domestic reasons for both of these countries right now to refuse to pull punches against each other," said Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group consulting firm.
Saudi Arabia, he said, is dealing with plummeting oil prices and an internal succession battle over who will next take the throne.
Iran, he said, needs a way to block reformists and Western advances in light of the recent nuclear deal. For both sides, he said, nationalist behavior can score points at home.
"That," Bremmer said, "makes this an incredibly dangerous conflict."
What can we expect to see in the coming days?
Don't expect the heated rhetoric to die down any time soon, analysts said.
"This is Saudi Arabia saying, 'The gloves are off,'" Ghosh said.
Gerges said that could ripple across the region.
"We were hoping that a diplomatic solution could be found to the Syrian crisis in the next few months. Forget about it," he said.
"We were hoping for a diplomatic solution in Yemen. Forget about it. ... Here, you have the two most powerful Islamic states in the heart of the Middle East now basically waging a direct confrontation, as opposed to an indirect war by proxy, so ... we should be really alarmed at the escalation of the confrontation." - CNN.
December 14, 2015 - GLOBAL ECONOMY - Oil prices on Monday plunged to their lowest level since 2009 as OPEC
continues high volume production and Iran plans to boost exports. Brent
crude was down below $37 a barrel while the US benchmark WTI fell below
$35 per barrel.
There’s “absolutely no chance” Iran will delay its plan to increase shipments even as prices decline, Bloomberg cited Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister as saying.
Tehran which expects international sanctions over its nuclear program to be lifted early in January, aims to double crude exports. The country currently exports 1.1 million barrels per day.
Oil prices could slump to $30 per barrel in 2016 and could stay low throughout the year, said Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, warning of tough times ahead.
Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin said the country is drawing up plans based on the price fluctuating between $40 and $60 until at least 2022.
That scenario would have devastating implications for OPEC, according to Oreshkin. It would also spell disaster for North Sea producers, Brazil’s off-shore projects, and heavily indebted Western producers. “We will live in a different reality,” he added.
According to the head of Russia's Central Bank the average crude price for next year would be $35 per barrel. Elvira Nabiullina said that at that price Russian GDP would fall by two to three percent along with investment and real wages.
The International Energy Agency’s report last week added to the concerns as it warned the global oil glut would persist at least until late 2016 with oversupply and slowing demand.
According to the Telegraph's Liam Halligan, the slump in oil prices reflects supply patterns driven almost entirely by geopolitics that could quickly shift.
Just as fast as crude prices have fallen over the past year or so, they “could easily spring back again,” Halligan writes.
"Then there’s Russia, outside OPEC and constantly vying with the desert kingdom to be the world’s biggest oil producer.
An OPEC production cut, the increasingly paranoid Saudis’ fear, would make yet more room for Russian crude,” Halligan added.
Moscow is “less bothered about cheap oil than Riyadh – given that, in ruble terms, prices have not fallen so far," he said.
Halligan’s analysis echoes experts who say the low oil price may have had no impact on Russian output, which is currently hovering at post-Soviet record levels. Russian crude production reached 10.77 million barrels per day (bpd) in October with 5.32 million bpd destined for export. - RT.
November 24, 2015 - MIDDLE EAST - The Israeli Air Force has launched airstrikes targeting a “Hamas post”
in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to a rocket that was launched at
southern Israel earlier in the day.
According to reports, Israeli jets targeted a training camp of
Hamas’ armed wing in central Gaza, apparently blaming the group for the
rocket that landed in southern Israel's Eshkol Regional Council on
Monday morning.
The projectile exploded in unpopulated area, causing no
injuries or damage.
Alert sirens were not activated, but security forces
reportedly swept the area to find the remnants of the rocket.
Israel maintains that Hamas bears full responsibility for all “goings-on in the Gaza Strip,” according to an IDF statement cited by Haaretz.
The Israeli military “will continue to act with severity to keep the calm in southern communities,” it added. - RT.
This November 12, 2015 photo released by Iran’s
Mehr News agency shows an elderly woman smoking water pipe after her
house in the city of Lamerd in the southern Fars province was flooded.
November 13, 2015 - IRAN - Floods cause by unprecedented rainfall across Iran have left at least 15 people dead, Iranian media say.
According to reports on Thursday, 13 people were confirmed dead after
flash floods, triggered by torrential rains, hit various areas in the
southernmost province of Hormozgan.
The provincial governor, Jasem Jaderi, said the fatalities included a
family of five who were driving in a car, and another one who died in a
separate incident in the town of Rudan, about 100 kilometers north of
the provincial capital of Bandar Abbas. One person was also killed in
the nearby town of Minab while another lost his life in Bandar Abbas.
He said another five drowned while sailing a wooden ferry near the resort island of Kish.
Meanwhile, officials in the southern Kerman province said an
11-year-old girl was killed in Manujan County. She had been reportedly
trapped under the debris of her home destroyed by heavy rain.
The rainfall has also affected provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and
Lorestan in western Iran, where a total of eight people were reported
killed two weeks ago. Material damage was also reported in the southern
provinces of Fars and Bushehr, the eastern province of Khorasan Razavi
and the desert province of Yazd. Officials said one was killed and three
others were still missing in Taybad, a town located near the Afghan
border.
Iran is expecting a relatively wet winter amid international forecasts
suggesting that the Middle East region is bracing for the El Niño
climate event unseen since 1950. - Press TV.
IAF fighter jets during the Red Flag joint exercise at Nellis air force base in Nevada .
(photo credit:COURTESY IDF SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
November 12, 2015 - MIDDLE EAST - Israel reportedly carried out an airstrike Wednesday near the airport in the Syrian capital Damascus. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinians have been injured in clashes with Israeli forces
on the anniversary of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death.
Youths threw stones and burned tires while Israeli security forces
responded with tear gas and live bullets.
And, two suspected suicide bombings in the southern suburbs of Beirut have
left at least 41 people dead, Reuters reports citing the Interior
Ministry. The death toll is expected to rise with Lebanon's Red Cross
putting the number of those injured over 200.
Israel Strikes Damascus in Syria ... Again
Around two weeks after a reported Israeli strike
on a weapons convoy in Syria, media outlets associated with Syrian
President Bashar Assad reported Wednesday night another Israeli
airstrike in the country.
According to the reports, Israeli
aircraft carried out the strike adjacent to the Damascus airport at
around 6:00 p.m. Yet it was not clear whether the target of the attack
was a weapons shipment, or an alternate target, such as an Iran-backed
terror cell operating against Israel.
Defense officials declined to comment on the foreign media reports.
However,
Israel did previously announce a strict-policy of intolerance towards
threats to the state, such as weapons transfers between Syria and
Lebanon.
The last reported Israeli strike in Syria, on October 31, targeted numerous Hezbollah targets in Syria's south.
In
the October alleged attack, Syrian media reported that up to a dozen
Israeli war planes conducted the mission close to the Lebanon-Syria
border in the Qalamoun Mountains region. Estimated targets included a
weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah fighters traveling through Syria.
The alleged attack on Wednesday night would be the second attributed to Israel since Russia began operating in the area.
Israel has reportedly struck Hezbollah in Syria several times over the past year.
Earlier
this year, the Israel Air Force reportedly struck a vehicle located in a
Druse village in southwestern Syria, killing Hezbollah men and a
pro-Assad militiaman, as well as a military base in Lebanon.
Another
reported strike targeted a Lebanese military installation near the
Syrian border, wounding six. It is believed to belong to a pro-Syrian
Palestinian faction. In a newsflash, Syrian state television quoted a
military source as saying that Israeli planes had struck a base
belonging to the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command, a faction that backs Assad. - JPOST.
Dozens of Palestinians injured in clashes on anniversary of Arafat’s death
Dozens of Palestinians have been injured in clashes with Israeli
forces on the anniversary of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s
death. Youths threw stones and burned tires while Israeli security
forces responded with tear gas and live bullets.
At least four people were wounded by live ammunition near Ramallah,
in Al-Bireh, the Palestinian health ministry said. Another person
reportedly remains in a critical condition and is undergoing surgery
after being shot in the heart.
Clashes in Al-Bireh erupted after a few hundred Palestinians marched
towards Israeli forces, as part of a rally to commemorate Yasser
Arafat’s life. At some point the youths began throwing stones at the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and rolling burning tires towards the
security personnel. The IDF responded by firing tear gas and live
bullets.
In other clashes in the West Bank, live rounds injured at least six other Palestinians in the city of Tulkarem.
In total, “62 citizens were injured by live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets during clashes with the (Israeli) occupation in Tulkarem, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Bethlehem,” the health ministry announced.
Those hurt were transferred to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry told the Ma’an news agency, adding that all were shot in the lower body.
WATCH: Palestinians injured in clashes with Israel.
Israeli forces said that they were responding to violence stemming from the Palestinian side. They confirmed the use of live fire.
“Rioters attacked forces and hurled Molotov cocktails and rocks at them. The forces then responded,” the statement said.
In the Gaza Strip, several Palestinian protesters were also injured during clashes with Israeli forces at the border of the Bureij refugee camp. Young protesters fired slingshots and threw tear gas back at IDF troops. The latter subsequently returned fire.
Meanwhile, over 2,000 activists flocked to a rally at the Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Organized by the Fatah Youth Movement, students marched to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, who many believe was poisoned by Israel eleven years ago. There were no reports of violence.
The latest tensions erupted over a month ago when Israel tried to restrict access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Some 77 Palestinians have been killed since late September. At least 10 Israelis have died as the tensions continue. - RT.
At least 41 killed, 200 hurt in southern Beirut suicide bombings
Double blast in southern Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh, Lebanon.
A pair of suicide bombings killed at least 41 people and wounded over 200 more Thursday evening in southern Beirut, a Lebanese Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said.
The blasts shook Bourj al-Barajneh, one of the biggest and most well-known largely Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The Lebanese news agency reported that two suicide bombers blew themselves up within 150 meters (490 feet) and five minutes of each other.
It was not immediately clear where they came from or what their motivation was.
Yet, in a purported statement circulated online by ISIS supporters on social media, ISIS claimed responsibility for the blasts. CNN hasn't confirmed the authenticity of the statement.
In addition to the human toll, the explosions damaged at least four nearby buildings. Video distributed by Reuters showed a dramatic scene in the bombings' aftermath, with rescue workers carrying out victims past piles of rubble and through a mass of people.
After the blasts, authorities closed all entrances to Bourj al-Barajneh, NNA reported. Judge Sakr Sakr dispatched military police and other authorities to investigate the blasts, cordoning off the area around them.
Citizens have been urged to stay away from the bloody scene as well as nearby hospitals to make it easier for ambulances to get back and forth.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam declared Friday a day of mourning for the victims of the bombings, a terrorist attack condemned by officials across the country's political landscape.
Bombings not new to Lebanon
Lebanon
has seen plenty of violence involving numerous parties in recent
decades, including recently as fallout from the bloody civil war in
neighboring Syria.
That war has
flooded the Middle Eastern nation with more than a million refugees,
according to the United Nations, and also contributed to intermittent
spillover violence.
Most of that bloodshed has been concentrated near the Syrian border, though not all, as evidenced by a November 2013 Beirut bombing that killed at least 23 people and wounded about 150 more.
The
al Qaeda-linked militant group Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed
responsibility for that bombing and warned of more to come unless the
Lebanese-based, Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah stops sending
fighters to support Syrian government forces. - CNN.
April 20, 2015 - MIDDLE EAST - The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef
up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept
any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in
Yemen.
Navy officials said Monday that the Roosevelt was moving through the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis.
Navy officials said there are about nine U.S. warships in the region, including cruisers and destroyers carrying teams that can board and search other vessels.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ship movement on the record.
The Houthis are battling government-backed fighters in an effort to take control of the country. The U.S. has been providing logistical and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia-led coalition launching airstrikes against the Houthis. That air campaign is now in its fourth week.
The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg escorts the
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (top) as they pass
the Rock of
Gibraltar in the Mediterranean Sea March 31, 2015 and
released April 1, 2015. Picture taken March 31, 2015.
(REUTERS/U.S.
Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anthony Hopkins II)
The U.S. Navy generally conducts consensual boardings of ships when needed, including to combat piracy around Africa and the region. So far, however, U.S. naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels since the Yemen conflict began.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest would not comment specifically on any Navy movements in Yemeni waters, but said the U.S. has concerns about Iran's "continued support for the Houthis.
"We have seen evidence that the Iranians are supplying weapons and other armed support to the Houthis in Yemen. That support will only contribute to greater violence in that country. These are exactly the kind of destabilizing activities that we have in mind when we raise concerns about Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East."
He said "the Iranians are acutely aware of our concerns for their continued support of the Houthis by sending them large shipments of weapons." - Yahoo.
April 19, 2015 - MIDDLE EAST - Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani is harshly criticizing Saudi Arabia, warning that the Saudi
royal family in Riyadh will harvest the hatred it is sowing in Yemen
through its airstrike campaign and calling their involvement a
'disgrace.'
Since March 26, the
Saudi-led coalition has been attacking Shiite rebels known as Houthis
and allied fighters loyal to Yemen's ousted President Ali Abdullah
Saleh. Iran supports the rebels but denies providing any military
support.
Addressing an army
parade in Tehran, Rouhani said killing civilians in Yemen will bring
neither power nor pride for Saudi Arabia. His speech was broadcast live
on state TV Saturday.
"Other countries must learn from the Revolutionary Guards how to
prevent conspiring in the region. We will do everything to achieve
peace, stability and security and we will protect the un-protected in
Yemen," said Rouhani.
President Rouhani of Iran.
Despite Iran's call for peace,
it is being credited for also being involved in the Yemen conflict -
but on the opposite side.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the
US army has foiled smuggling attempts from Iran to Yemen intended to
transfer equipment to Houthi rebel fighters.
The Iranian government continues to deny that it has been helping the
Houthi rebels who have caused President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Meanwhile, Iran
presented on Friday a four-point plan to end the conflict that includes
humanitarian aid, dialogue and the formation of a broad-based Yemeni
unity government after a proposed cease-fire was already rejected by
Saudi Arabia. - YNET News.
Iranian ship convoy moves toward Yemen, alarming US officials
U.S. military officials are concerned that Iran's support for Houthi
rebels in Yemen could spark a confrontation with Saudi Arabia and plunge
the region into sectarian war.
Iran
is sending an armada of seven to nine ships — some with weapons —
toward Yemen in a potential attempt to resupply the Shia Houthi rebels,
according to two U.S. defense officials.
Officials fear the move
could lead to a showdown with the U.S. or other members of a Saudi-led
coalition, which is enforcing a naval blockade of Yemen and is
conducting its fourth week of airstrikes against the Houthis.
Iran
sent a destroyer and another vessel to waters near Yemen last week but
said it was part of a routine counter-piracy mission.
What's
unusual about the new deployment, which set out this week, is that the
Iranians are not trying to conceal it, officials said. Instead, they
appear to be trying to "communicate it" to the U.S. and its allies in
the Gulf.
WATCH: Iran Reportedly Sends Navy Vessels Near Yemen Amid Airstrikes.
It is not clear what will happen as the convoy comes closer to Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has deployed ships around Yemen to enforce the blockade,
as has Egypt. An official said the ship convoy could try to land at a
port in Aden, which the Houthis have taken over.
Although the
U.S. is assisting with the Saudi-led air campaign, it is not
participating in the naval blockade of Yemen, said U.S. Central Command
spokesman Col. Pat Ryder.
However, the U.S. Navy is in the region
and has already "consensually boarded" one Panamanian-flagged ship in
the Red Sea on April 1 on the suspicion it was illegally carrying arms
for the Houthis.
None were found, but the move raised alarm bells
in Washington over an increasingly active U.S. military role in the
conflict. The Pentagon indicated this week that more boardings could
occur.
"We will continue to vigilantly defend freedom of
navigation and to conduct consensual searches in an effort to ensure
that drugs, human trafficking, weapons trafficking and other contraband
are limited," Army Col. Steve Warren said on Monday.
Officials
fear a naval confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia could escalate
what has become a proxy war between the two countries.
The U.S.
has been supporting the airstrikes with intelligence and logistical
support, and last week began refueling Saudi fighter jets.
Administration officials say it is important to support Saudi Arabia.
Earlier
this week, a senior State Department official said the U.S. would try
to ensure that a United Nations Security Council arms embargo against
Houthi leadership is enforced.
"We will be taking very careful
look and examining very closely efforts to violate the embargo," senior
State Department official Gerald Feierstein told the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
The deepening of the conflict comes as the
U.S. hopes to reach a deal with Iran to roll back its nuclear program in
exchange for sanctions relief. Officials say U.S. support for the
Saudi-led coalition has not affected the negotiations with Iran.
The
conflict also threatens to complicate U.S.'s relations with Iraq. Iraqi
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, an Iran ally, criticized Saudi Arabia
for its airstrike campaign during a visit to Washington this week.
U.S.
officials say they are unsure why Iran is making the brazen move. One
theory they have floated is that the Saudi-led coalition has effectively
blockaded any air routes into Yemen and there are no other ways to
resupply the Houthis.
Another theory is that Iran is trying to
distract the coalition from another ship it has tried hard to conceal
that is currently docked at Oman — a potential land route for smuggling
arms into Yemen.
Yet another theory is that Iran wants to force a
confrontation with Saudi Arabia that it believes it will win, because
Iran views the Saudi military as weak and suspects the U.S. lacks the
willpower to support its Gulf ally.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week
on Twitter taunted Saudi Arabia, calling its military puny and smaller
than Israel's. He also said the air campaign was tantamount to genocide
of innocent Yemeni civilians and that the U.S. would also fail in
Yemen.
U.S. officials say they hope the airstrikes will force
Houthis to the negotiating table in order to restore stability in Yemen,
where America faces a terrorist threat from al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP).
“We're assisting the Saudis to protect their
own territory and to conduct operations that are designed to lead
ultimately to a political settlement to Yemen,” said Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter on Thursday.
“That's good for the people of Yemen,
first and foremost. It's good for Saudi Arabia that doesn't need this on
its southern border. And … it's good for us, among other reasons,
because of AQAP's presence in Yemen. But for that to occur, it'll
require more than military action,” he added. - The Hill.
UPDATE: Iran Marks Army Day With Cries Of "Death To Israel, USA"!
A truck bearing the slogan 'Death to Israel' at an Iranian military parade, April 18, 2015 (screen capture: Reuters/YouTube)
Iran on Saturday marked Army Day with a military parade featuring new
weapons systems, as well as a truck carrying a massive banner reading
“Death to Israel.”
A televised broadcast of the parade was punctuated by repeated cries of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
“If Israel makes a mistake,” the announcer on
Iran television said during the broadcast, as heavy trucks carrying
armored personnel carriers rolled past, “those in Tel Aviv and Haifa
will not sleep at night, not one person.”
Broadcast on national television, military
brass and political leaders, foremost President Hassan Rouhani, attended
the procession south of the capital Tehran, which showcased the
country’s military technologies.
Among the weapons systems paraded past dignitaries was a domestically produced version of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile, the Bavar 373.
Speaking at the event, Rouhani said Iran was adopting “a strategy of deterrence in order to prepare for peace and security in Iran and the Middle East.”
“Our method of action is defense and not offense,” he said.
Russia announced earlier this week that it would supply the S-300s to Iran shortly, having delayed delivery for several years. The announcement prompted bitter protests from Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned President Vladimir Putin, in vain, to ask him to cancel the deal.
Israel fears the S-300s would complicate any military intervention as a last resort to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive. It also fears Iran could supply the missile defense systems to Syria or Hezbollah, diluting Israel’s air supremacy over Syria and Lebanon.
On Friday, President Barack Obama said he was surprised the Russians had held back from going through with the deal for as long as they had.
Rouhani also harshly criticized Saudi Arabia Saturday, warning that the Saudi royal family in Riyadh will harvest the hatred it is sowing in Yemen through its airstrike campaign.
Since March 26, the Saudi-led coalition has been attacking Shiite rebels known as Houthis and allied fighters loyal to Yemen’s ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Iran supports the rebels but denies providing any military support.
WATCH: Iran marks Army Day with a joint military parade.
“What does bombing the innocent … Yemeni people mean? What goals are you pursuing? Will killing children bring power to you? You planted the seeds of hatred in this region and you will see the response sooner or later,” Rouhani said. “Don’t bomb children, elderly men and women in Yemen. Attacking the oppressed will bring disgrace … for the aggressors.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already called the Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen “genocide” and a “major crime.”
Iran has presented a four-point plan to end the conflict that includes humanitarian aid, dialogue and the formation of a broad-based Yemeni unity government after a proposed cease-fire was already rejected by Saudi Arabia.
Rouhani also accused Saudi Arabia of providing weapons and funding to terrorist groups in the Middle East.
“What does providing financial assistance and weapons to terrorists in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq mean,” he asked.
Iran is supporting both Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Iraqi government in its fight against Sunni Muslim extremists, including the Islamic State group. Tehran says Saudi Arabia and several other Middle East governments support the Islamic State group.
Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who heads the parliamentary national security and foreign policy committees, predicted that Saudi Arabia will find itself trapped in the Yemeni “quagmire.”
“We are so sorry that today Saudi Arabia and (its allies) have placed themselves in a quagmire and leaving it will definitely not be an easy task,” he told reporters Saturday. - Times of Israel.
The
wreckage of a car and damaged buildings are seen in Ras Imran, west of
the port city of Aden, following Saudi air strikes against Huthi rebels
on April 16, 2015.(Photo: Saleh Al-Obeidi, AFP/Getty Images)
April 16, 2015 - YEMEN - Military officials and residents say Al Qaeda has taken control of a major airport, a sea port and an oil
terminal in southern Yemen after brief clashes with troops.
The officials said Al Qaeda fighters clashed Thursday with members of one of Yemen's largest infantry brigades outside Mukalla, a city the militants overran earlier this month. The officials, speaking from Sanaa on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press, said the leaders of the brigade fled.
The brigade is in charge of securing the coast of Mukalla, the provincial capital of Yemen's largest province, Hadramawt. After seizing the airport, the militants easily captured the sea port and oil terminal.
Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch has long been seen as the network's most lethal franchise.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Military officials and residents say Al Qaeda has taken control of a major airport in southern Yemen after briefly clashing with troops.
The officials say Al Qaeda fighters clashed Thursday with members of the infantry brigade in charge of protecting the Riyan airport in the city of Mukalla, a major port city and the provincial capital of Yemen's largest province, Hadramawt.
Al Qaeda overran the city itself earlier this month and freed inmates, including a militant commander, from its prison.
Nasser Baqazouz, an activist in the city, said the troops guarding the airport put up little resistance.
Al Qaeda's powerful local branch has exploited the chaos in Yemen, where Shiite rebels and military units loyal to a former president captured the capital in September and have been advancing despite a three-week Saudi-led air campaign.
Yemen's exiled vice president on Thursday called on Shiite rebels and their allied military units to end their offensive on the southern port city of Aden, saying that ground fighting must halt ahead of any peace initiatives.
Khaled Bahah, speaking from Riyadh, said the rebels and troops loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh should adhere to the U.N. Security Council resolution passed earlier this week that calls on Yemenis, especially the Houthis, to end the violence and return to U.N.-led peace talks.
A Saudi-led coalition began an air campaign against the Houthis and their allies on March 26. The U.N. resolution makes no mention of an end to the airstrikes, now in their fourth week.
Bahah said no initiative for ending the conflict would be considered without a "halt to the war machine," particularly in Aden, Yemen's second largest city. Yemen's internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi had set up a temporary capital in Aden before fleeing to Saudi Arabia last month.
Bahah also called on all military units to stop fighting for Saleh and return to the fold of the legitimate government.
He said the kidnapping of the defense minister by the Houthi rebels at the outset of their offensive on Aden has left the military in exceptional disarray, but called on military units to end their fighting on behalf of "individuals."
"We consider Aden to be the key to peace, the key to the solution," Bahah said. "We will not talk about any initiatives until we see the war machine has stopped in Yemen, and in Aden in particular."
Bahah was speaking for the first time since Hadi appointed him vice president on Sunday. He said Hadi will return to Aden when the security and political situation improves. For now, he said a small government will operate out of Riyadh, focusing on organizing and coordinating humanitarian efforts.
The Houthis swept down from their northern strongholds and seized the capital, Sanaa, in September. Iran supports the Shiite rebels, but both Tehran and the rebels deny it has armed them.
Ground fighting has been fiercest in Aden, where rebels and pro-Saleh military units are trying to take control of the city.
Humanitarian groups have struggled to meet the needs of a population that was already struggling with food security, water scarcity and fuel shortages. Medical supplies are now running low.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that at least 364 civilians are reported to have been killed since the start of the airstrikes on March 26, including at least 84 children and 25 women. This is in addition to hundreds of fighters killed.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said at least 31 civilians were killed on March 31, during repeated coalition airstrikes on a dairy factory located near military bases operated by the Houthis and their allies.
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North African director at Human Rights Watch, said the attack may have violated the laws of war, and called for countries involved to investigate and take appropriate action.
"Repeated airstrikes on a dairy factory located near military bases shows cruel disregard for civilians by both sides to Yemen's armed conflict," he said.
Bahah said the coalition and its allies have tried to avoid killing civilians. - AP.
April 14, 2015 - UNITED STATES - Israel has denounced Russia's decision to lift a ban on the delivery of S-300 missile systems to Iran as proof of Tehran's newfound "legitimacy" following a mutual nuclear understanding reached in Switzerland.
"This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran is receiving from the nuclear deal that is being prepared, and proof that the Iranian economic growth which follows the lifting of sanctions will be exploited for arming itself and not for the welfare of the Iranian people," Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement on Monday.
He added that the international community has already begun easing restrictive measures despite Iran’s disavowal of clause after clause of the mutual understanding reached between Tehran and the P5+1 countries.
The Zionist official repeated the Israeli regime’s allegations against Iran and said instead of urging Tehran to stop its terrorist activity in the Middle East and in the world, it “is being allowed to arm itself with advanced weaponry that will only increase its aggression."
Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz
The decision to lift the ban comes after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries - five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.
The emerging deal is set to be finalized by Iran and the six global powers by June 30.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree on Monday that lifts a ban on "the shipment from Russia to Iran" of the S-300 missiles which was put in place in 2010 after the United Nations imposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.
Following Moscow’s refusal to deliver the system, Iran filed a USD four-billion suit against the Russian arms firm, Rosoboronexport, with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva. - Press TV.
