Middle east events and news

Reports: Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Fighting Intensely Against ISIS In Bayda, Yemen
In the several days before July 18, 2018, multiple news outlets reported that the Yemen-based jihadi group Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula has been fighting intensely against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Qaifa governate in Al-Bayda province of Yemen.
Iranian Regime Again Threatens To Close Strait Of Hormuz – A Threat It Has Made In The Past But Never Carried Out
Against the backdrop of the U.S. administration’s announcements that it intends to level oil and banking sanctions against the Iranian regime, regime officials once again responded with vehement statements expressing their intention to prevent any country from shipping oil via the Persian Gulf (see for example statements by Iranian President Hassan Rohani on July 3, 2018). Many inside and outside Iran have interpreted these statements as an Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz (by memri org).