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Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
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Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)

The Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed on Wednesday its sincerest condolences to the Iraqi government and people, as well as the relatives of the victims, over the Nineveh fire that killed over 100 people.

The ministry underscored the Kingdom’s solidarity with Iraq and its people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people.

Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Al-Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside a morgue in the nearby city of Mosul.

The US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski offered her condolences.

“We stand by the Iraqis in their grief for the victims and the injured at Al-Hamdaniya wedding,” Romanowski said in a post on the X platform.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it was “shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninenveh’s Al-Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy.”

“Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” it added on the X platform.

The European Union mission in Iraq offered its condolences, saying its hearts were with the families of the victims.

It expressed its solidarity with Iraq and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Abou Zeid, said Cairo stands by Iraq, its government and people in wake of the tragedy.

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a cable to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his counterpart Mohammed al-Halbousi to offer his condolences.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani all offered their condolences.

Kanaani added that Iran was ready to treat the wounded.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Iraq stressed the need for the concerned authorities to dedicate all efforts and means to help the victims and their relatives.

It urged the need to open a probe into the accident and bring those responsible to justice.

It also called for ensuring that all public and private buildings meet safety standards to avoid such tragedies from taking place again in the future.

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Arab World

Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
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Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)

Iraq closed three border crossings with Iran on Saturday, officials told AFP, after a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian pipeline that both Riyadh and Baghdad said was launched from Iraq.

An Iraqi security source and a government official told AFP that authorities ordered the closing of three border crossings with Iran.

The security source said the decision was "part of an intelligence effort to track down the perpetrators and prevent their escape... and to hinder the smuggling of drones through these crossings".

Both sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media, could not specify when the crossings would reopen.

The closed crossings are Shalamsheh in Basra province, al-Shib in Missan and al-Mandali in the central province of Diyala.

Other border crossings with Iran are still open.

A security official said that "security forces found drone launchers near the Iraq-Iran border in the al-Tib" region, a remote part of Missan, close to the al-Shib crossing. A second security source gave the same account.

Military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said the prime minister had approved "Iran's request to conduct a joint investigation into finding drone launch platforms near the Iraq-Iran border".

The government's security media cell said earlier that authorities "have started administrative and security reorganization operations at several border crossings".

It added that they had stepped up "intelligence activities" to determine "the breaches and violations that took place at these crossings".

It later announced that passengers stranded for hours at two crossings were permitted to pass.

Arab World

Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
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Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)

Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Haibat Al-Halbousi strongly condemned the attacks targeting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that originated from within Iraqi territory.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Al-Halbousi rejected the use of Iraq's territory or airspace to threaten Saudi Arabia's security or that of any neighboring state, describing such actions as unacceptable violations that contradict Iraq's national interests, stated foreign policy, and regional relations.

Al-Halbousi emphasized the critical need to restrict weapons exclusively to the state and its constitutional institutions under the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

He stressed that enforcing state control over arms is vital to reinforcing national sovereignty, preserving domestic stability, and preventing Iraq from being drawn into wider regional conflicts.

Arab World

Lebanese Army Detains Bashar Assad’s Relative on Weapons and Drugs Charges

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
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Lebanese Army Detains Bashar Assad’s Relative on Weapons and Drugs Charges

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo

Lebanese authorities have detained a relative of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with the son of a notorious drug dealer in northeast Lebanon on charges of carrying weapons and drugs, officials and the Lebanese army said Saturday.

Suleiman Assad and Ali Zeiter, son of Noah Zeiter, the suspected drug trafficker arrested last year, were detained Friday near the northeastern city of Baalbek, said the two judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Suleiman Assad is the son of Hilal Assad, a cousin of the ousted president, The AP news reported.

A number of Syrian officials and relatives of Assad have fled from Syria to other countries including Lebanon, after the five-decade Assad family rule came to an end in December 2024, when the opposition seized power. Bashar Assad and his younger brother, Maher, have been living in Russia.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that it detained three people, including a Syrian citizen who did not have documents proving that he is staying legally in Lebanon.

The army said they had weapons with them along with hashish, a drug that is processed from cannabis that are widely planted in northeast Lebanon. The army did not release the names but the initials of their first and family names matched those of Assad and Zeiter. The army said they were questioned under the supervision of judicial officials.

The arrest of Suleiman Assad comes weeks after Lebanon handed over to Syrian authorities a retired major general who commanded a division in Bashar Assad’s army.