عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Tehran Boosts Support for Houthis by Appointing Ambassador to Sanaa

An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
TT
TT

Tehran Boosts Support for Houthis by Appointing Ambassador to Sanaa

An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)

Iran has stepped up its political and military support for Houthi coup militias in Yemen by appointing and dispatching a new Iranian ambassador to the insurgency-held capital, Sanaa. This sparked public rage in the war-torn country.

The internationally-recognized government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi urged a response against the hostile move by Tehran.

Iran had previously avoided officially recognizing Houthis in Yemen, but changed its policy after Houthis appointed Ibrahim al-Dulaimi as ambassador to Iran in 2019. Tehran accepted the appointment and handed over the keys to the Yemeni embassy to al-Dulaimi.

"Hassan Eyrlou... ambassador for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Yemen, has arrived in Sanaa," foreign ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh told the Fars news agency.

"He has presented his letters of credentials to Mehdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen's supreme political council," he added, referring to an executive body formed by Houthi militias.

Fars did not specify when or how the ambassador had reached Sanaa, but the announcement came shortly after more than 1,000 prisoners were freed in a landmark exchange between the warring sides in Yemen.

Well-informed sources based in Sanaa revealed that Eyrlou had arrived to Sanaa onboard an Omani flight that transported 283 injured Houthis who were a part of a deal with Washington on releasing two US citizens captured by Houthi militias.

Yemeni activists accuse the UN of facilitating the transport of Iranian officers and experts to Yemen, where they help embolden a Houthi coup d'etat by providing military support.

Iranian military advisors are responsible for giving Houthis access to explosive-making technologies and providing militants with training sufficient to assemble and operate missiles and drones smuggled from Iran.

Yemeni activists have urged the government to respond to Iran sending Eyrlou to Sanaa, saying that the move violates national sovereignty, plays into Tehran's policy on prolonging the war in Yemen, and violates international laws and resolutions.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

UN Cuts Its Aid Appeal for 2026 despite Soaring Need

FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
TT
TT

UN Cuts Its Aid Appeal for 2026 despite Soaring Need

FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)

The United Nations on Monday appealed for an aid budget only half the size of what it had hoped for this year, acknowledging a plunge in donor funding at a time when humanitarian needs have never been greater.

By its own admission, the $23 billion UN appeal will shut out tens of millions of people in urgent need of help as falling support has forced it to prioritize only the most desperate, Reuters said.

The funding cuts come on top of other challenges for aid agencies that include security risks to staff in conflict zones and lack of access.

"It's the cuts ultimately that are forcing us into these tough, tough, brutal choices that we're having to make," UN aid chief Tom Fletcher told reporters.

"We are overstretched, underfunded, and under attack," he said. "And we drive the ambulance towards the fire. On your behalf. But we are also now being asked to put the fire out. And there is not enough water in the tank. And we're being shot at."

A year ago, the UN sought some $47 billion for 2025 - a figure that was later pared back as the scale of aid cuts by US President Donald Trump as well as other top Western donors such as Germany began to emerge.

November figures showed it had received only $12 billion so far, the lowest in 10 years, covering just over a quarter of needs.

Next year's $23 billion plan identifies 87 million people deemed as priority cases whose lives are on the line. Yet it says around a quarter of a billion need urgent assistance, and that it will aim to help 135 million of them at a cost of $33 billion - if it has the means.

The biggest single appeal of $4 billion is for the occupied Palestinian territories. Most of that is for Gaza, devastated by the two-year Israel-Hamas conflict, which has left nearly all of its 2.3 million inhabitants homeless and dependent on aid.

Second is Sudan, followed by Syria.

Fletcher said humanitarian groups faced a bleak scenario of growing hunger, spreading disease and record violence.

"(The appeal) is laser-focused on saving lives where the shocks hit hardest: wars, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics, crop failures," he said.

UN humanitarian agencies are overwhelmingly reliant on voluntary donations by Western donors, with the United States by far the top historical donor.

UN data showed it continued to hold the number one spot in 2025 despite Trump's cuts but that its share had shrunk from over a third of the total to 15.6% this year.

World

Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts his headphones during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) in Jerusalem, 07 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts his headphones during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) in Jerusalem, 07 December 2025. (EPA)
TT
TT

Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts his headphones during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) in Jerusalem, 07 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts his headphones during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) in Jerusalem, 07 December 2025. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.

Asked by a reporter if planned on retiring from political life if he receives a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “no.”

Netanyahu last month asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, with lawyers for the prime minister arguing that frequent court appearances were hindering Netanyahu’s ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for the country.

Pardons in Israel have typically been granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in response to the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and his lawyers have said that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings, if concluded, would result in a complete acquittal.

US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog, before Netanyahu made his request, urging the Israeli president to consider granting the prime minister a pardon.

Some Israeli opposition politicians have argued that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026.

World

Man Arrested after Pepper Spray Attack in London's Heathrow Airport Parking Garage

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Man Arrested after Pepper Spray Attack in London's Heathrow Airport Parking Garage

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)

Police arrested a man in London on Sunday after a group of people were assaulted with pepper spray in a parking garage at Heathrow Airport.

The victims were taken to the hospital by ambulance but their injuries were not believed to be serious, the Metropolitan Police said.

The incident in the Terminal 3 garage occurred after an argument escalated between two groups who knew each other. It was not being investigated as terrorism, police said.

One man was arrested on suspicion of assault and held in custody. Police were searching for the other suspects who left the scene.