In a July 18, 2022 interview on Russia Today TV, former Iranian diplomat Amir Mousavi was asked about the validity of senior Iranian official Kamal Kharrazi’s previous-day statement on Al-Jazeera Network that Iran is a nuclear threshold country and that it has the ability to produce nuclear weapons (see MEMRI …

A bank in the United Arab Emirates will soon allow its customers to trade cryptocurrencies using Emirati currency. A bank in the United Arab Emirates will soon allow its customers to trade cryptocurrencies using Emirati currency. RAKBANK announced an agreement with Kraken July 18 that will allow UAE residents to …

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, met July 24 with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, including Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, reportedly discussing the establishment of a new energy government for the Kurdistan Region. The prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani, visited …

President of the BRICS International Forum Purnima Anand revealed Egypt’s interest in joining the group along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and the position is to be discussed at the BRICS summit scheduled for next year in South Africa. President of the BRICS International Forum Purnima Anand announced July 14 …

US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking will visit Riyadh and Amman for talks focused on renewing the truce set to expire on Aug. 2. The US envoy charged with pushing for lasting peace in Yemen headed back to the region on Monday to build support for a fragile truce …

Syrian Kurdish leader says Turkish intentions unclear. Will Turkey mount yet another military incursion against US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria “at any time, any moment,” as the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening for some time? The threat seemed to subside as Erdogan came back “empty handed,” …

Taiwan’s capital staged air raid drills Monday and its military mobilized for routine defense exercises, coinciding with concerns over a forceful Chinese response to a possible visit to the island by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. While there was no direct link between China’s renewed threats and Taiwan’s …

Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow’s overarching goal in Ukraine is to free its people from its “unacceptable regime,” expressing the Kremlin’s war aims in some of the bluntest terms yet as its forces pummel the country with artillery barrages and airstrikes. The remark from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov comes …

The war in Ukraine may be entering a new stage as long-range rocket systems supplied by the U.S. disrupt Russia’s grinding advance in the eastern Donbas region, and open the door for a possible counteroffensive. More than 150 days into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, it remains far from clear if …

Cameroon welcomes French president Emmanuel Macron on his first trip to Africa since his re-election last April. The visit also includes Benin and Guinea-Bissau. The visit comes at a time when France is undertaking to “renovate” its military partnerships on the continent to maintain its strategic competition in the face …