Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA)- Captain of Iranian cargo ship, carrying Iran’s aid to Gaza, stressed that his vessel will wait in international waters until its mission is accomplished. “We will be waiting until we accomplish the mission. Our objective is to deliver the cargo to the Gazans,” Goudarz Qaleh-Golab said. “We started …

TEHRAN (FNA)- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued on Saturday in Beirut, expressed satisfaction over the decision to cease hostilities in the occupied lands. According to a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) in Tehran, the full text of the UN chief’s statement is as …

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A warehouse in a U.N. compound in Gaza that came under Israeli fire on Thursday was apparently hit by white-phosphorus shells, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said. It was the first public allegation by a senior U.N. official echoing an accusation by Human Rights Watch …

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Egyptian proposal to end the war in Gaza centers on a phased-in ceasefire, starting with a lull to let in aid, followed by the pullout of Israeli forces and the reopening of border crossings, diplomats said. But Western and U.N. diplomats close to the negotiations said …

RIYADH (Reuters) – Gulf Arab leaders gathered in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday for an emergency meeting on Israel’s offensive in Gaza that could help scupper an Arab summit proposed by regional maverick Qatar. King Abdullah called the meeting, pre-empting a bid by Qatar to stage an Arab summit …

DUBAI (Reuters) – Support has slipped for a special Arab summit on the Israeli offensive in Gaza proposed to be held in Qatar on Friday, with several countries dropping out after a tug-of-war highlighting Arab divisions. Qatar’s emir insists his invitation still stands, but Arab League official Hesham Youssef said …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Consul General Mohammad Eghbal Asghari called on Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti to discuss bilateral ties and other issues of mutual interests, including Pakistan’s efforts to release Tehran’s kidnapped diplomat. The commercial attaché of Iranian Consulate in Peshawar, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niaki, …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said some of the Arab leaders were standing back in silence and even supporting Israeli attacks on Gaza. “Unfortunately, some regional, Islamic and Arab states for whatever reason and with a smile of satisfaction, are supporting or tolerating this rare genocide in silence,” Ahmadinejad …

(Reuters) – Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza city Thursday and unleashed their heaviest shelling of its crowded neighborhoods in three weeks of war, stepping up pressure on Hamas as the Islamist group weighed a ceasefire. The Palestinian death toll topped 1,050, including many civilians. More than 4,000 have been …

GAZA (Reuters) – An explosion blasted a tower block in the city of Gaza that houses the offices of Reuters and other media organizations on Thursday, forcing an evacuation and disrupting coverage of increasingly fierce fighting. Colleagues said a journalist for the Abu Dhabi television channel had been wounded. Reuters …