KSrelief Renews Masam Project Contract to Clear Yemeni Territory of Mines

The project is carried out by Saudi personnel and international experts working alongside trained Yemeni teams to clear all types of randomly planted mines in Yemeni lands - SPA
The project is carried out by Saudi personnel and international experts working alongside trained Yemeni teams to clear all types of randomly planted mines in Yemeni lands - SPA
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KSrelief Renews Masam Project Contract to Clear Yemeni Territory of Mines

The project is carried out by Saudi personnel and international experts working alongside trained Yemeni teams to clear all types of randomly planted mines in Yemeni lands - SPA
The project is carried out by Saudi personnel and international experts working alongside trained Yemeni teams to clear all types of randomly planted mines in Yemeni lands - SPA

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has extended the contract for the Masam project, aimed at clearing Yemeni territory of mines, for another year, at a cost of $35,998,500.
The project is carried out by Saudi personnel and international experts working alongside trained Yemeni teams to clear all types of randomly planted mines in Yemeni lands. It focuses on dismantling these mines and eliminating the threats they pose to the Yemeni population. It also includes capacity-building and training activities for Yemeni individuals involved in mine clearance.
KSrelief Supervisor General Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah emphasized the crucial significance of renewing the contract for this project, as it plays a vital role in the clearance of Yemeni territory from mines intentionally planted in areas that endangered innocent civilians, leading to lifelong injuries, disabilities, and tragic loss of life among women, children, and older people.
So far, the project has cleared 450,919 mines and various missiles, SPA quoted Al Rabeeah saying.
Al Rabeeah also expressed thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their outstanding humanitarian and relief initiatives in Yemen and other various countries.



Iran's Weakening Will Not Harm Iraq, Deputy Parliament Speaker Says

Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
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Iran's Weakening Will Not Harm Iraq, Deputy Parliament Speaker Says

Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Mohsen al-Mandalawi, deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

Mohsen al-Mandalawi spoke to Reuters in a recent interview after seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad overthrown by the opposition.

US President Donald Trump's new administration has promised to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

"Today, we have stability. Foreign companies are coming to Iraq," said Mandalawi, himself a businessman with interests in Iraqi hotels, hospitals and cash transfer services.

"Iraq has started to take on its natural role among Arab states. Iran is a neighbor with whom we have historical ties. Our geographical position and our relations with Arab states are separate matters," he said, speaking at his office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to government institutions and foreign embassies.

"I don't think that the weakening of Iran will negatively impact Iraq."

Mandalawi is a member of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Coordination Framework, a grouping of top politicians seen as having close ties with Iran, and heads the Asas coalition of lawmakers in parliament.

Iraq's balancing act between Tehran and Washington has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained.

During Trump's first 2017-2021 presidency, ties were tense after the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq.