عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syrian FM Visits Russia on Wednesday amid Iran Rivalry

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad in April 2018. (Getty Images)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad in April 2018. (Getty Images)
TT
TT

Syrian FM Visits Russia on Wednesday amid Iran Rivalry

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad in April 2018. (Getty Images)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad in April 2018. (Getty Images)

Russia and Iran are in a heated race over field gains in Syria. This rivalry is not only playing out on the ground, but in diplomacy in the war-ravaged country.

Newly-appointed Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad had kicked off his duties by making a visit to Iran. His second official trip will take him to Russia on Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had urged against making too much political speculation over why he visited Tehran before Moscow. Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova revealed that Moscow was in fact the destination of Mekdad’s first foreign visit, but scheduling conflicts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov forced him to change his plan.

Her remarks did nothing to stem the speculation of the rivalry.

Russian media reported on the “priorities of the new foreign minister, which were revealed during his Tehran visit.” Observers noted soon after Mekdad’s appointment that he was a figure “who is close to Iran.”

Russia and Iran have been vying for control in regions held by the Syrian regime.

Moscow had recently set up a military position in Alboukamal in the Deir Ezzor countryside by the Iraqi border in spite of the vehement rejection expressed by Iranian militias that control the city.

The development took place as pro-regime sources revealed that Syrian security forces had raided an Iranian militia position in Deir Ezzor, arresting several of its members.

Russia has also upped its cooperation with the regime. Russian military officials revealed that they are helping Syrian forces carry out patrols in the Golan Heights near the line that separates Syrian forces from Israeli ones.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

WHO: Sudan's Cholera Outbreak May Get Worse Due to Conflict and Rains

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese women lie in beds as they receive treatment for dengue fever at Omdurman Hospital, as Sudan grapples with outbreaks of dengue and cholera amid the annual rainy season and a collapsed healthcare and infrastructure system, in Khartoum, Sudan, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese women lie in beds as they receive treatment for dengue fever at Omdurman Hospital, as Sudan grapples with outbreaks of dengue and cholera amid the annual rainy season and a collapsed healthcare and infrastructure system, in Khartoum, Sudan, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
TT
TT

WHO: Sudan's Cholera Outbreak May Get Worse Due to Conflict and Rains

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese women lie in beds as they receive treatment for dengue fever at Omdurman Hospital, as Sudan grapples with outbreaks of dengue and cholera amid the annual rainy season and a collapsed healthcare and infrastructure system, in Khartoum, Sudan, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese women lie in beds as they receive treatment for dengue fever at Omdurman Hospital, as Sudan grapples with outbreaks of dengue and cholera amid the annual rainy season and a collapsed healthcare and infrastructure system, in Khartoum, Sudan, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

A cholera outbreak in Sudan could get worse as war, displacement and the onset of the rainy season threaten to exacerbate a humanitarian crisis in the country, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.

The cholera outbreak declared on June 27, which has killed at least 114 people and infected more than 1,300 others, is spreading across several Sudanese states, particularly in ‌Darfur and Kordofan, where ‌access for aid and healthcare ‌workers remains ⁠severely constrained, the ⁠WHO said.

"Cholera is back," the WHO representative in Sudan, Shible Sahbani, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Libya. "There is (a) case fatality rate of 13.7%, which is extremely high, and of course, the rainy season is ⁠expected to worsen the situation," Sahbani added.

Cholera ‌is a severe ‌and potentially fatal diarrheal disease that spreads quickly when ‌sewage and drinking water are not adequately treated, Reuters said.

Sudan ‌faces the world's largest humanitarian emergency, with more than 33 million people in need of assistance and 21 million requiring health services, according to the WHO. Sahbani ‌expressed particular concern about the situation in the besieged city of al-Obeid, ⁠the ⁠capital of North Kordofan, where health facilities are overwhelmed and humanitarian access is difficult amid intensifying fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A UN official warned earlier this month that a human rights catastrophe was unfolding in the city, similar to that seen in al-Fashir, in north Darfur, which the RSF captured last year after a long siege. "There is the risk that it will become the second al-Fashir, or even worse," Sahbani said.

Arab World

One Killed in Israeli Strike on South Lebanon

A photograph taken from the southern city of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on July 5, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern city of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on July 5, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

One Killed in Israeli Strike on South Lebanon

A photograph taken from the southern city of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on July 5, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern city of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on July 5, 2026. (AFP)

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed a young motorcyclist on Friday, Lebanese state media reported, the latest attack despite a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"A young man from the city of Nabatieh was martyred in a raid by an enemy drone that targeted him this afternoon, when he was riding a motorcycle" in Kfar Rumman near the city of Nabatieh, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said.

It also reported other strikes in the area, wounding at least one person.

The Israeli military meanwhile said it targeted "a Hezbollah terrorist operating near an access shaft of the underground terror infrastructure at the Ali al-Taher Ridge, within the Security Zone where (Israeli) soldiers are operating", referring to a hill that overlooks the area of Nabatieh.

"In an additional strike, the (Israeli army) eliminated a suspect traveling in a vehicle who posed a threat to (Israeli) soldiers operating within the Security Zone."

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the regional war on March 2 by attacking Israel, claiming it was acting in retaliation for the death of Iran's supreme leader, killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Israel responded with a large-scale bombing campaign and a ground offensive, killing more than 4,300 people and occupying territory near the border.

Israel has kept up intermittent strikes on south Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatieh area, despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives.

Lebanon and Israel recently reached a framework agreement that calls for Hezbollah's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory while Lebanon's army deploys into "pilot zones".

However, the agreement -- rejected by Hezbollah -- does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometers (six miles) deep as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

Friday's strikes come as Lebanon and Israel are set to meet for a new round of talks in Rome next week, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is expected in Washington on June 21, invited by his US counterpart Donald Trump.

In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, Aoun said that "the United States is the only party capable of exerting pressure on the Israeli government to prevent it from targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut, the infrastructure, or expanding the occupied territories in southern Lebanon".

"We want the American administration to help us regain all of our land."

Arab World

Iraq’s ‘Oil Network’ Arrests Reach Another Official

Iraqi security personnel patrol a street in Baghdad on June 28. (AFP)
Iraqi security personnel patrol a street in Baghdad on June 28. (AFP)
TT
TT

Iraq’s ‘Oil Network’ Arrests Reach Another Official

Iraqi security personnel patrol a street in Baghdad on June 28. (AFP)
Iraqi security personnel patrol a street in Baghdad on June 28. (AFP)

An Iraqi security force on Thursday arrested Hussein Talib, director general of the state-run Oil Products Distribution Company, on suspicion of involvement in corruption cases, hours before he was scheduled to take the constitutional oath as a replacement member of parliament, a security source said.

Talib’s detention came as investigations into corruption linked to the oil sector widened. The Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court announced Thursday that an additional 14 billion Iraqi dinars, or about $10.7 million, had been seized in the case of detained Oil Ministry Undersecretary Adnan al-Jumaili.

Talib, who heads the Oil Ministry-affiliated company, had been named to replace lawmaker Ammar Mousa as a Baghdad representative for the National State Forces Alliance. His arrest prevented him from taking the oath, the source said.

The National Wisdom Movement, led by Ammar al-Hakim and of which Talib is a member, said it supported measures taken by the government, judiciary and Integrity Commission to combat corruption.

Movement spokesman Hossam al-Hassani said it backed legal action aimed at protecting public funds, adding that an official’s compliance with investigative procedures demonstrated respect for constitutional and legal institutions.

He stressed that “the accused is innocent until proven guilty by a final court ruling,” adding that any legal responsibility, if established, was personal and should not extend to any political, social or institutional entity. He urged against prejudging or politically exploiting the case.

Iraqi security forces last week arrested politicians, lawmakers and senior government officials named in al-Jumaili’s confessions. Security and legal sources described the arrests as the beginning of a broader anti-corruption campaign ordered by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

Al-Zaidi, who took office in May, has pledged to root out corruption, one of Iraq’s most persistent challenges despite repeated accountability promises by successive governments.

An investigating judge said continued inquiries into the waste of public funds in projects led authorities to discover money hidden in a stormwater drainage pit. Investigations were continuing to identify all members of the network.

Parliament also voted Thursday to dismiss National Investment Commission Chairman Haider Makkiya and refer the relevant files to the Integrity Commission after he failed to attend a questioning session.

Al-Zaidi said his government would fight corruption “without exceptions or red lines,” pursue those involved and recover stolen funds.

Local media also reported that Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed in Kuwait efforts to freeze and recover money allegedly deposited in Kuwaiti banks by corruption suspects, as well as cooperation to identify shell companies and return assets to Iraq.