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In Beirut, US envoy says 'no more time to waste' on Gaza ceasefire

By - Aug 14,2024 - Last updated at Aug 14,2024

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Chihine near the border with Israel on August 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hizbollah fighters (AFP photo)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein warned Wednesday the clock was ticking for a Gaza ceasefire that could also help end 10 months of cross-border exchanges between Lebanon's Hizbollah and Israel.

His Lebanon trip comes a day before ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel are set to resume, with top diplomats scrambling to avert all-out war after Iran and Hizbollah vowed revenge for recent high-profile killings.

Hochstein told a Beirut news conference that he and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbollah ally, discussed "the framework agreement that's on the table for a Gaza ceasefire, and he and I agreed there is no more time to waste and there's no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay".

"The deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war," Hochstein said.

"We have to take advantage of this window for diplomatic action and diplomatic solutions. That time is now."

Late last month, an Israeli strike killed top Hizbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the group, just hours before Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel.

"The more time goes by of escalated tensions... the more the odds and the chances go up for accidents, for mistakes, for inadvertent targets to be hit that could easily cause escalation that gets out of control," Hochstein warned.  

Diplomatic resolution 'achievable' 

"Here in Lebanon we believe we can get to [the] end of the conflict now, today. We recognise that there are those who want to tie it to other conflicts. That is not our position," Hochstein said. 

"We continue to believe that a diplomatic resolution is achievable because we continue to believe that no one truly wants a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel," Hochstein said.

Hizbollah has repeatedly said it would only end hostilities once a Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached. 

The US envoy also met Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who warned in a statement that "Israeli intransigence is threatening efforts to stop the war".

Last week, Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group and Iran were "obliged to respond" to Israel "whatever the consequences" after the killings of Shukr and Haniyeh.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's pro-Hizbollah newspaper Al-Akhbar published a report headlined "Don't welcome the Israeli mediator", accusing Hochstein of providing assurances before Shukr's killing that Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Hamas ally has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army since the Palestinian. The violence has killed some 568 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures. 

Israel forces kill five Palestinians in West Bank strikes, raid

By - Aug 14,2024 - Last updated at Aug 14,2024

Palestinians inspect a damaged building at the site of an Israeli army raid in Tubas city in the occupied West Bank on August 14, 2024 (AFP photo)

TAMMUN, Palestinian Territories — Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in air strikes and a raid in the north of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, sources on both sides said.

Tubas governor Ahmad Saad told AFP that four Palestinians were killed in Tammun and one in Tubas.

"The [Israeli] forces are withholding the bodies of the five martyrs, and when we inquired with the liaison office, we were officially informed about the five martyrs," Saad said.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that "the army entered Tubas at dawn and shot and killed a young man hiding in his home".

The Israeli army confirmed it had launched a "counterterrorism operation" in the city, during which it "eliminated one terrorist" and "hit others during an exchange of fire".

It said its troops had "arrested wanted suspects and located and confiscated weapons".

Earlier, the Israeli police said they had shot dead a Palestinian teenager who was "climbing the wall" separating Jerusalem from the West Bank to "throw Molotov cocktails".

The 16-year-old was taken to hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead, the police said in a statement shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Israeli war on Gaza

 broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7. At least 625 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian official figures.

Far-right minister leads Israelis in prayer at flashpoint mosque compound

Jordan condemns storming of Al Aqsa Mosque as 'flagrant' violation of Jerusalem's status quo

By - Aug 13,2024 - Last updated at Aug 13,2024

The Old City of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock (right) and Al Aqsa Mosque (left) (AFP photo)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Foreign Ministry condemned the "storming" of the mosque, calling it a "flagrant violation of international law".

"The continual violations of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its sanctities require a clear and firm international position that condemns these violations," ministry spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah said in a statement.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israelis into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed East Jerusalem Tuesday and performed prayers marking a Jewish holiday, sources said.

Ben Gvir, who has often defied the Israeli government's longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the mosque compound, vowed to "defeat Hamas" in Gaza in a video he filmed during his visit.

While Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the mosque compound in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem during specified hours, they are not permitted to pray or display religious symbols.

In recent years, the restrictions have been increasingly flouted by hardline religious nationalists like Ben Gvir, prompting sometimes violent reactions from Palestinians.

On Tuesday morning, Ben Gvir and some 2,250 other Israelis walked through the compound in groups, singing Jewish hymns, under the protection of Israeli police, an official from the Waqf, the Jordanian body that is custodian of the site, told AFP.

"Minister Ben Gvir, instead of maintaining the status quo at the mosque is supervising the Judaisation operation and trying to change the situation inside Al Aqsa Mosque," the official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak on the issue.

Israeli occupation forces also "imposed restrictions" on Muslim worshippers trying to enter the mosque, he said.

Images posted on social media networks showed Ben Gvir inside the compound while several Israelis lay on the ground performing Talmudic rituals.

Ben Gvir released a video statement on social media platform X, which he filmed inside the compound himself, renewing his opposition to any truce in the war in Gaza.

"We must win this war. We must win and not go to the talks in Doha or Cairo," he said, referring to the US-backed negotiations for a truce and hostage release deal for Gaza to resume on Thursday.

The office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Ben Gvir's visit "deviated from the status quo". 

Tuesday's entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound comes on the Jewish mourning day of Tisha Be'Av that commemorates the destruction of the ancient temple. 

Last month too, Ben Gvir, who is known for provocative acts, said he had prayed inside the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, defying the longstanding rules that permit Jewish visits but forbid prayer.

Explosions reported near two ships off Yemen - security agencies

By - Aug 13,2024 - Last updated at Aug 13,2024

DUBAI — Two ships reported nearby explosions on Tuesday off the coast of Yemen, maritime security agencies said, though neither event resulted in damage or injuries.

The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden off Yemen have become perilous for shipping with the Huthi rebels, who control areas including the capital Sanaa, launching attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.

One ship positioned 63 nautical miles southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida reported two nearby explosions early on Tuesday.

"A small craft was observed in the vicinity acting suspiciously and flashing lights towards the vessel," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said. 

The ship was then "attacked by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), which was successfully disabled", according to the agency, which is run by the British navy.

"The vessel and crew are reported safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call."

Maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship fitted the profile of Huthi targets. 

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), run by a Western naval coalition, identified the vessel as the Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker Delta Atlantica.

A second ship, positioned 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeida, also reported "an explosion in the vicinity of the vessel", UKMTO said.

The JMIC identified the ship as the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker On Phoenix.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the strikes were consistent with previous ones by the Iran-backed Huthis that began in November, roughly one month after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attacks on southern Israel triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. 

The Huthis' anti-shipping campaign against scores of ships has disrupted maritime traffic in the Red Sea, which usually carries up to 12 per cent of global trade. 

The attacks have triggered reprisal strikes by the United States and Britain on Huthi targets inside Yemen.

Iran rejects Western calls to stand down Israel threat

By - Aug 13,2024 - Last updated at Aug 13,2024

A woman checks her phone as she stands amid the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood on August 11, 2024 (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iran on Tuesday rejected Western calls to stand down its threat to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month.

The Islamic republic and its allies have blamed Israel for Haniyeh's killing on July 31 during a visit to the Iranian capital for the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented.

Iran has vowed to avenge the death, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hizbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

Western diplomats have scrambled to avert a major conflagration in the Middle East, where tensions were already high due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In a statement on Monday, the United States and its European allies urged Iran to de-escalate.

"We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place," said the joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.

The White House warned that a "significant set of attacks" by Iran and its allies was possible as soon as this week, saying Israel shared the same assessment.

The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a guided missile submarine to the region in support of Israel.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani criticised the Western call for it to de-escalate.

"The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to the international crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said in a statement.

"Such a request lacks political logic, flies in the face of the principles and rules of international law, and constitutes public and practical support" for Israel.

 Call for 'unfettered' aid 

The United States and its European allies also called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with difficult talks set for Thursday on halting the conflict.

They also called for the "unfettered" delivery of aid to devastated Gaza.

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,897 people, according to a toll from the territory's health ministry.

International mediators have invited Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations this week on a ceasefire and hostage release deal, an invitation Israel has accepted.

Hamas has urged mediators to implement a truce plan earlier presented by US President Joe Biden instead of holding more talks.

Analyst Esfandyar Batmanghelidj said Iran was considering how to retaliate against Israel without derailing the ceasefire talks.

"The renewed push for a ceasefire offers Iran a way out of this escalatory cycle," Batmanghelidj, CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think-tank, told AFP.

"Iranian officials still feel obliged to hit back at Israel, but they must do so in a way that doesn't derail the prospects for a ceasefire summit."

US hopeful Israel, Hamas to talk

By - Aug 13,2024 - Last updated at Aug 13,2024

WASHINGTON — The United States said Tuesday it remained hopeful that Israel and Hamas will resume ceasefire negotiations this week, with Qatar working to bring the Palestinian militants.

President Joe Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar last week made an unusual joint public call on Israel and Hamas to convene negotiations starting Thursday.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already confirmed Israel's participation and "our Qatari partners have assured us that they are working to ensure that there is Hamas representation as well," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

"So, we'll let this process play out, but we fully expect these talks to move forward, as they should," Patel told reporters.

Patel said that a ceasefire would allow the release of hostages, the delivery of humanitarian aid and new diplomacy "to get the region out of this endless cycle of violence."

The push to resume talks came after Israel was suspected in the killing in Tehran of Hamas's political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who had been involved in ceasefire negotiations.

Iran has vowed retaliation, with Biden sending more US forces to the region but also privately chastising Netanyahu for the timing of the assassination.

The New York Times, quoting negotiating documents, reported Tuesday that Israel has also hardened some positions, including insisting on maintaining control of the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Patel declined comment on Israeli negotiating positions but said that Israeli officials have told the United States that "they'll be prepared to finalize the details for implementing the deal."

‘Gaza’s 2000 year-old Christian community could completely disappear’

By - Aug 12,2024 - Last updated at Aug 12,2024

Child deaconesses walk past the rubble of a collapsed building in a procession during the Palm Sunday service outside the Greek Orthodox Church of St Porphyrius in Gaza City on April 28, 2024 (AFP photo)

AMMAN — Palestine, a land deeply intertwined with the roots of Christianity, is where the earliest Christian communities emerged, stemming from the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Yet, today Gaza’s Christian community stands on the brink of extinction. 

The identity of Christian Palestinians 

Christian Palestinians trace their origins back to the first Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts, who were later joined by Latin and Greek-speaking Romans, Greeks and descendants of various people, including Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Arabs, among others, as noted by the scholar Gerd Theisen, theologist of the New Testament. 

Following the Muslim conquest, many non-Arabic-speaking Christians gradually adopted Arabic, blending into the broader Arab Christian identity, alongside communities like the Arab Ghassanids, who remained Christian and integrated with Melkite and Syriac communities across the region, explained the historian Nur Masalha in a paper for the Centre of Palestine Studies at the University of London. 

Today, Palestinian Christians represent a rich tapestry of denominations, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Catholicism (including both Latin and Eastern Rites) and Protestantism, forming a small yet significant part of the Palestinian population. 

Population decline

The creation of Israel in 1948 marked a turning point for Palestinian Christians, who, like their Muslim compatriots, faced displacement and the harsh realities of life under occupation. According to Minority Rights Group International, as cited by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Christian population has significantly reduced due to emigration and lower birth rates, from an estimated 10 per cent of the population in 1948 to around 2 per cent today. 

The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics census recorded approximately 47,000 Christians living in Palestine in 2017, with nearly 98 per cent residing in the West Bank, in cities like Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, while the remaining 1,100 lived in besieged Gaza. Today, that number has been reduced to less than 800 in Gaza, according to International Christian Concern, a human rights organisation focused on assisting persecuted Christians globally. 

Despite their diminishing presence, Christians remain an integral part of Palestinian society: They have representation in the Palestinian Authority government, and Christian children attend separate religious classes in schools, with family law matters overseen by Christian ecclesiastical courts. They share the same struggles as their Muslim neighbours, enduring the challenges imposed by Israeli occupation.

The construction of the Israeli separation wall in the early 2000’s has further isolated Christian communities, particularly in Bethlehem, complicating their access to religious sites and contributing to the fragmentation of this already small minority, as reported by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. 

Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, had a Christian majority of 86 per cent just 70 years ago, but the city’s demographics have significantly shifted, especially after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, and the construction of the Israeli separation wall. The “Open Bethlehem” organisation described how the wall has encircled Bethlehem, cutting it from Jerusalem and reducing Palestinian access to the land, with only 13 per cent of the Bethlehem district remaining available for Palestinian use. 

Escalating violence on Christians

The ongoing conflict has intensified the plight of Palestinian Christians. Pope Francis has condemned the Israeli military actions in Gaza as “terrorism tactics”, highlighting the tragic deaths of two Christian women (Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar) who had taken refuge in the Holy Family Parish Church. They were shot dead by Israeli snipers while they were walking to a convent of nuns. The same day, the convent of Sisters of Mother Teresa, part of the church compound, was struck three times by Israeli artillery shells, rendering the monastery unhabitable, as reported by the Latin patriarchate. 

“I continue to receive very grave and painful news from Gaza,” Pope Francis said in an appeal for ceasefire. “Unarmed civilians are the objects of bombings and shootings. And this happened even inside the Holy Family Church, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick or disabled, and nuns.”

In a further act of violence, the third oldest church in the world, Saint-Porphyrius Orthodox Church was damaged by Israeli bombings. When questioned about the incident during a talk with the LBC British radio station, the Israeli deputy major of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, claimed “There are no church in Gaza, and no Christians,”highlighting the invisibility of Christian Gazans. 

Targeting churches 

Saint Porphyrion Orthodox Church was hit by an Israeli airstrike, resulting in the death of at least 18 Christians sheltering there. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the attack, labelling it as a war crime. 

Gaza’s only Baptist church met a similar fate when it was destroyed by an Israeli tank shell just a day after Christmas 2023. Additionally, the Byzantine church in Jabalia, Northern Gaza, faced complete destruction due to direct shelling during an Israeli assault, as reported by the NGO Heritage for Peace. The Saint Hilarion monastery in Deir Balah, the first Christian monastery built in Palestine during the Byzantine era, was also partially damaged from indirect shelling.

Ahli Hospital, the only Christian hospital in the Gaza Strip, run by the Anglican Church, was also severely damaged by a devastating explosion that killed hundreds of people on October 17 2023, according to Human Rights Watch. The hospital had already suffered damage from another Israeli missile three days before the deadly blast. 

Leaving their ancestral homes

The relentless war and blockade have accelerated the exodus of Christians from Gaza. The International Christian Concern has warned that the Christian community in Gaza, now reduced to less than 800, could disappear entirely if the current situation persists. As Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate Gaza, churches, hospitals and ancient Christian sites face destruction, threatening the survival of this ancient community. 

“They are faced with the dilemma of staying and helping others rebuild or leaving to join relatives abroad and start a new life, but the journey out of Gaza is not an easy one,” the organisation stated. 

The demolition of Christian areas in the West Bank remains a serious concern. The Minority Rights Group International, via UNHCR, reported that in 2016, construction began on a new section of the separation barrier near the Palestinian Christian town of Beit Jala, threatening to cut Palestinians off from their olive groves, a vital source of livelihoods, to facilitate the expansion of the nearby Israeli settlement of Gilo. 

In June 2024, during an International Peace Consultation, the National Coalition of Christian Organisations in Palestine issued an open letter to the World Council of Churches, stating, “There is no justice in our land. In today’s Palestine, discrimination and inequality, military occupation and systematic oppression are the rules.” The letter urged churches worldwide to recognise Israel as an apartheid state and to take a firm theological stand against any doctrine that justifies this occupation. 

“We are on the verge of a catastrophic collapse,” the letter warned. “As Christian Palestinians, this could be our last chance to save the Christian presence in this land.”

The end of a 2000 years old community

Palestinian State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, who is of Armenian origin, highlighted the gravity of the situation during her meeting with a delegation from Churches for Middle East Peace. “Israel killed 3 per cent of Gaza’s Christians since October,” she told the gathering. 

For the first time in their 2000-year history, Gaza’s Christians face the real possibility of extinction. As the community’s numbers steadily decline and their historical heritage stands under constant assault, the future of Christianity in Palestine hangs in the balance. 

“Almost all Christian institutions in Gaza have suffered destruction or damage, Christians have lost their homes and businesses,” Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian pastor and founder of Dar Kalima University in Bethlehem, stated in international press. “I am afraid the last chapter of Christianity in Gaza is being written.”

Gazans flee as Israeli forces push into Khan Yunis

By - Aug 11,2024 - Last updated at Aug 11,2024

A Palestinian child drags along his bag as people flee the Hamad residential district and its surroundings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza (AFP photo)

KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories — Palestinians fled southern Gaza's main city on Sunday as Israel warned of a new military operation, a day after one of the deadliest reported strikes in more than 10 months of war.

The Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip has sent tensions soaring across the region, including in the occupied West Bank where medics said an Israeli man was killed Sunday in a shooting.

Intense diplomacy in recent days sought to avert a wider war in the Middle East following the killings of Iran-aligned leaders, while international mediators invited Israel and Hamas to resume stalled talks towards a long-sought Gaza truce and hostage-release deal.

AFP journalists said hundreds of Palestinians fled northern neighbourhoods of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city already ravaged by months of bombardment and battles, after Israel issued fresh evacuation orders in the early morning.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that "just in the past few days, more than 75,000 people have been displaced in southwest Gaza". The entire territory has a population of about 2.4 million people.

Families gathered their meagre belongings as crowds of people left Al Jalaa, some loading mattresses, clothing and cooking utensils into pick-up trucks. Others took to the road on foot.

Umm Sami Shahada, a 55-year-old displaced Palestinian, said she had “fled Gaza City at the start of the war for Khan Yunis”, hoping to find shelter.

“My daughter was killed in bombardment, so we went to Rafah, then we came back here, and now with this new evacuation order we don’t know where to go,” she said.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli air strike on Friday killed at least 93 people at a religious school housing displaced Palestinians, according to civil defence rescuers, sparking international condemnation.

Israel said it targeted militants operating out of Gaza City’s Al Tabieen school and mosque with “precise munitions”, declaring that “at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were eliminated”.

The death toll, which AFP could not independently verify, would be one of the largest from a single strike since the war began.

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in Hamas-run Gaza, said on Sunday that identifying the victims could take at least two days as “we have many bodies torn into pieces” and “shredded or burnt by the bombs”.

Hamas in a statement called Arab and Muslim nations to “take effective decisions” to stop the war and demanded an urgent UN Security Council meeting to force Israel “to stop the aggression and genocide”.

The Palestinian group, which has named its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar to succeed slain political leader Ismail Haniyeh, has yet to respond to an invitation from US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators for truce negotiations on August 15. Israel has accepted.

Haniyeh was killed during a visit to Tehran on July 31, an attack blamed on Israel which has not claimed responsibility. But hours earlier it the military chief of Lebanese Hamas ally Hizbollah in a strike on Beirut.

Iran, Hamas, Hizbollah and other regional allies have vowed retaliation, spurring fears of a wider conflagration.

US President Joe Biden, asked what his message was to Iran, responded: “Don’t”.

Iran president presents Cabinet to parliament for approval

By - Aug 11,2024 - Last updated at Aug 11,2024

Vehicles drive past a huge billboard depicting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (rught) and slain leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh at Tehran's Valiasr Square on Thursday (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian presented his Cabinet to parliament on Sunday, notably including a woman and a Western-friendly diplomat as the country's foreign minister.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced the names of the 19-member Cabinet presented by the president during an assembly session broadcast live on state television.

For the post of foreign minister, Pezeshkian has named Abbas Araghchi, a 61-year-old career diplomat who has led nuclear negotiations since 2013.

Known for his openness to the West, he played a pivotal role in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that was torpedoed three years later by the United States' decision to withdraw from it.

Pezeshkian has also nominated one woman, Farzaneh Sadegh, who would become only the second Iranian woman to hold a ministerial post since the Islamic republic was established in 1979.

The 48-year-old is set to head the ministry of roads and urban development.

The reformist president has named as his future interior minister General Eskandar Momeni, a 60-year-old police commander and former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, a former commander of the Iranian Air Force and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces since 2021, is set to take the helm of the defence ministry.

The president has chosen as his future oil minister Mohsen Paknezhad, a 58-year-old executive director with a long career in the country's energy industry.

Parliament is set to begin reviewing candidates on Monday and submit them to a vote by lawmakers starting on Saturday.

In late July, Pezeshkian had announced that he would "consult and coordinate" with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, to present the final list of ministers.

In Iran, the vote of confidence is performed by each minister individually, rather than the government as a whole.

On Saturday, the president kept in his position the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, who has held the post since 2021.

Eslami was placed on a sanctions list by the United States and the European Union in 2008, when he was deputy defence minister.

Pezeshkian, who took office in late July, had advocated during the election campaign to open Iran up to the world, vowing to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement and ease sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Multiple attacks target merchant ship off Yemen - UK agency

By - Aug 10,2024 - Last updated at Aug 10,2024

Yemenis wave flags and lift placards during a rally in support of the Palestinians, in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Friday (AFP photo)

DUBAI — A series of attempted attacks using missiles and a sea drone targeted a merchant vessel off areas of Yemen held by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, a British maritime security agency said Friday.

A rocket-propelled grenade exploded Thursday near the ship off the city of Mokha, which overlooks the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

A missile also exploded close to the same vessel, which later reported an attempted attack by an uncrewed surface vessel that was shot down by an armed security team on board, UKMTO said.

The drone "exploded a distance from the vessel," according to the agency, which is run by the British navy.

A fourth attack saw a missile splash into the sea near the ship, UKMTO said, adding that the crew and vessel were reported to be safe and continuing to the next port of call.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the operation was consistent with previous operations carried out by the Huthis, who have launched a flurry of drone and missile strikes on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November.

The rebels say they are fighting Israel as part of Iran's so-called "axis of resistance" in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war. 

Maritime security firm Ambrey also reported three attacks on a ship off Yemen's coast, saying they were aligned with previous operations claimed by the Huthis.

Noam Raydan, an expert tracking maritime attacks for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank, identified the vessel as the Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker Delta Blue, saying it was carrying a cargo of Iraqi crude oil destined for Greece. 

The MarineTraffic tracking website also said the oil tanker's destination was Greece.

The Huthis' anti-shipping campaign has disrupted maritime traffic in the Red Sea, which usually carries up to 12 percent of global trade.

Rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi on Thursday hailed the decrease in maritime traffic as "a great victory," saying that 177 vessels had been targeted.

The attacks have triggered reprisal strikes by the United States and Britain on Huthi targets inside Yemen.

On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces "destroyed two Iranian-backed Huthi anti-ship cruise missiles and one Huthi ground control station in Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen" over the past 24 hours.

US military forces also destroyed one Huthi uncrewed surface vessel in the Red Sea, CENTCOM said, noting that the "reckless and dangerous behavior by Iranian-backed Huthis continues to threaten regional stability and security."

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