Middle Orient

Iran has made significant gains in its efforts to reduce U.S. influence in Iraq and drive out U.S. forces. Secretary of State Pompeo’s threats to close the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will not prompt Prime Minister al-Kadhimi to rein in Iran-backed militias.

The US-brokered Sudan-Israel deal to normalize ties is “phony” and was secured by a “ransom,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Pay enough ransom, close your eyes to the crimes against Palestinians, then you’ll be taken off the so-called ‘terrorism’ blacklist,” the ministry tweeted. “Obviously, the list is as phony …

The Palestinian Authority said on Friday that it “condemns and rejects” the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel. A statement by the PA presidency in Ramallah said that normalization with Israel is in violation of the Arab summit resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz doubled down on his accusation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the sale of the F-35 to the United Arab Emirates during negotiations but kept it hidden from the defense establishment.

Jewish and pro-Israel politicians and organizations have praised the US-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and Sudan.

A normalization announcement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is close and there could be major developments following the US presidential elections depending on who wins, Mossad director Yossi Cohen has said in closed conversations, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

France on Saturday said it was recalling its ambassador to Turkey for consultations after comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggesting his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, needed a mental health check-up, which Paris condemned as unacceptable.

Turkey’s tests of its Russian-made S-400 air defense systems violate Ankara’s commitment to NATO and may hamper its security relations with the US, the Pentagon has said, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the drills.

The IDF struck sites belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Ashkelon on Thursday night.One rocket fell in an open field, while the second was intercepted by the Iron Dome system.

A prominent Syrian Muslim cleric in charge of the Damascus region was killed Thursday when a bomb planted in his car exploded outside the capital, state news agency SANA said. Adnan al-Afiyuni, the Sunni Muslim mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to President Bashar al-Assad who hails …