Mideast News from WN Network

Raisi’s death and Iran’s many fronts 2024-05-21
Ekathimerini

President Ebrahim Raisi’s death raises many questions regarding the clash between the hard core of Iran’s theocratic regime and its reformers and moderates. The outcome will determine Iran’s domestic and foreign policies. The variables are so many, and the country’s involvement in Middle East...

photo: AP / Vahid Salemi, File

France and Belgium support ICC request for arrest warrants of Israel and Hamas leaders 2024-05-21
NBC Bay Area

France and Belgium released statements supporting the world’s top war crimes court’s request for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, after Israel and the United States both harshly condemned the effort. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, accused Israeli...

photo: AP / Menahem Kahana

‘No equivalence’: Biden defends Israel after ICC requests arrest warrants 2024-05-21
Al Jazeera

United States President Joe Biden has defended Israel against war crimes charges in the world’s top courts. Biden’s remarks came after Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and...

photo: White House / Adam Schultz

Israel broadens Rafah operation 2024-05-21
Dawn

CAIRO: Israel began on Monday a ‘new push’ into central Gaza, bombarding towns in the north of the Strip and saying it ‘intended to broaden’ its military operation in Rafah despite US warnings of the risk of mass casualties in the southern city. Gaza medics informed that at...

photo: AP / Fatima Shbair

Iran’s Khamenei confirms Mohammad Mokhber as interim president 2024-05-20
Al Jazeera

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has confirmed that Mohammad Mokhber will take over as interim president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, confirmed that the first vice president will become acting head of the country’s executive...

photo: Iranian First Vice-President Office via AP

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu 2024-05-20
Hong Kong Standard

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in connection with their actions during the seven-month war. Karim Khan said that he believes...

photo: Creative Commons / President.gov.ua https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president, dies in helicopter crash aged 63 2024-05-20
Al Jazeera

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in a mountainous and forested area of the country in poor weather. The 63-year-old, a figure representing conservative and hardline factions in Iranian politics, was president for nearly three years,...

photo: AP / Kim Ludbrook

An ultimatum raises pressure on Netanyahu to make postwar plans for Gaza, even as fighting rages 2024-05-19
Independent Online

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from his own War Cabinet and his country's closest ally over postwar plans for Gaza, even as the war with Hamas shows no sign of ending. On Saturday, Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet and Netanyahu's main political rival,...

photo: AP / Abdel Kareem Hana

Israel risks pariah status as castigation over Gaza war by its allies, UN members escalates 2024-05-18
South China Morning Post

The US, Australia and India are among Israel’s long-time allies that have objected to the mounting casualties and escalation in the Gaza war. ......

photo: AP / Tsafrir Abayov

Pressure grows for Netanyahu to make postwar plans for Gaza 2024-05-17
Beijing News

White House - International and domestic pressure is mounting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish a strategic endgame for the Israel-Hamas war that would tie Israeli military gains to a political solution for the Palestinian enclave. In his harshest public rebuke yet to...

photo: AP / Saher Alghorra