DUBAI: Iran is not interested in promoting peaceful solutions in Yemen, the country’s Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muammar Al-Eryani said. Al-Eryani said that Iran is instead planning on taking control of the coastline extending from the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea in order to take over Bab Al-Mandab strait, according to state news agency Saba. He added that Tehran’s regime has turned Yemen into a Houthi-controlled hub used to target neighboring countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE,  and trade ships along the coast. They have also posed a threat on energy security after the Houthi militia waged attacks on stations distributing petroleum in Saudi’s Jeddah and Jazan and the UAE’s Al-Mussafah and Al-Dhafra areas in Abu Dhabi, said Al-Eryani. He noted that the Houthis had also confessed to hijacking the UAE’s flagged cargo ship Rawabi, which was sailing off the coast of Yemen. The coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen earlier this year said that it had destroyed 106 boats loaded with explosives aimed to carry out terrorist attacks along the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, Saba reported. According to Al-Eryani, the escalation in attacks coincided with Iran’s increase in funding the Houthi militia with weapons and military supplies. He added that US Marines seized shipments carrying 9,000 weapons in 2021, including rockets, while they were being transported to the Houthi militia in Yemen. Al-Eryani said that the Houthis have been able to increase attacks with the help of ‘Iranian experts and Hezbollah’.

DUBAI/AMMAN: A final body was pulled from wreckage of a collapsed building in Jordan’s capital on Saturday as search efforts ended after four days, taking the total number killed to 14. “Rescue teams were able to extract one dead person on Saturday, the death toll now stands at 14,” said Amer Al-Sartawi, a public security spokesman. A massive rescue operation began when the four-story residential building toppled over on Tuesday in Jabal Al-Weibdeh, one of Amman’s oldest neighborhoods. Hours before Jordanian rescue teams were approaching the end of their mission, criticism erupted on social media after a concert was held at the Roman Amphitheater, a venue that is relatively close to the site of the collapsed building. Users on social media argued that it was inappropriate to hold a concert while the search for the missing was still ongoing. The Jordanian government denied in statements to Al Arabiya that it had any connection to the concert, saying the event was organized by a private company. It also noted that Amman’s Municipality had nothing to do with the concert. It remains unclear what caused the collapse of the building located in a district popular among wealthier residents and expatriates but also includes some poorer areas. Authorities have arrested the building’s owner and two maintenance workers. At least 10 people were injured, and an infant was rescued from the rubble. – with AFP

DUBAI: Haitham Shuja Al-Din, Yemen’s delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has called on Iran to stop destabilizing the country and the Middle East region.  By supporting the Houthi militia and providing the group with weapons, Iran continues to destabilize the security and stability of Yemen, as well as its neighboring countries, Al-Din said in a report from Yemen News Agency (SABA). “Iran has violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and it must comply with its nuclear obligations within the framework of its comprehensive safeguards agreement,” Al-Din told the IAEA Board of Governors meeting. The delegate also expressed his concern that Iran was not serious about the ongoing negotiations, SABA reported.  The stalled negotiations have been an excuse for Tehran to develop its nuclear program for non-peaceful purposes, he said, adding that any new agreement with Iran would thus be “ineffective,” according to SABA.

RIYADH: Iran’s supreme leader is on bed rest under observation after falling ill last week, the New York Times reported on Friday. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “canceled all meetings and public appearances last week after falling gravely ill,” the paper said, citing four unnamed sources with knowledge of Khamenei’s health situation. The 83-year-old leader had surgery last week at a home clinic for bowel obstruction after suffering “extreme stomach pains and high fever”. The US paper said that Khamenei, who took over as supreme leader in 1989, was too weak to even sit up and is being monitored by a group of doctors, though his condition had improved from last week.

This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)

Iran’s supreme leader makes final decisions in major domestic, regional and global issues, including those related to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.  US President Joe Biden’s administration is attempting to revive a nuclear agreement — scuttled by his predecessor Donald Trump — with Iran in a bid to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. US allies in the region have called on Biden not to renew the deal in order to thwart Tehran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East.

DAMASCUS: An Israeli airstrike near Damascus airport killed five Syria soldiers on Saturday, Syrian state media said. “The aggression led to the death of five soldiers and some material damage,” Syria’s official news agency Sana quoted a military source as saying. The strike carried out at approximately 00:45 am (2145 GMT Friday) came “from the northeastern direction of Lake Tiberias, targeting Damascus airport and some points south of Damascus,” it added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed that the strikes killed five Syrian soldiers, and said two Iran-backed fighters were also killed. The monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria, said Israel targeted sites where Iran-backed groups are stationed near Damascus airport and in the Damascus countryside. An Israeli strike in the countryside around the capital Damascus and south of coastal Tartus province killed three soldiers last month. In June, Israeli airstrikes put Damascus airport out of service for nearly two weeks. In the past month, Israeli airstrikes have twice targeted Aleppo airport. The rights monitor said at the time that those strikes had targeted weapons depots belonging to Iran-backed militias. Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against its northern neighbor, targeting government troops as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters. While Israel rarely comments on individual strikes, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds. It says its air campaign is necessary to stop arch-foe Iran gaining a foothold on its doorstep.

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied has made new changes to electoral law that diminish the role of political parties, three months ahead of legislative elections.

A new electoral law reduces the number of members of the lower house of parliament from 217 to 161, and says candidates will now be elected directly instead of via party lists. Voters will elect a new legislature Dec. 17. “In the past, the parliament deputy drew his legitimacy from his party. Today, he must assume his responsibilities, above all, before his constituents,” Saied said at a Cabinet meeting. According to the new rules, parliament members “who do not fulfill their roles” can be removed if 10 percent of constituents who voted for them lodge a formal request with parliament.

In the past, the parliament deputy drew his legitimacy from his party. Today, he must assume his responsibilities, above all, before his constituents.

Several opposition parties, including the Ennahdha movement, have said they will boycott the December elections and say the new electoral law is aimed at muffling them. Saied froze parliament in 2021 after years of political deadlock and economic crisis, and then dissolved it in March. A constitution approved in a July referendum hands broad executive powers to the president and weakens the influence of Tunisia’s parliament and judiciary. While opposition members and Western critics warned the moves threaten hard-won democratic gains, many Tunisians welcomed Saied’s actions after years of exasperation with the country’s political elites. The president insisted at a Cabinet meeting Thursday that he had no intention of excluding any party from the parliamentary elections. He argued that the new law was based on a study of systems in other countries, and “will allow the people to freely express their will and to vote for the person of their choice.” His critics accuse him of authoritarian drift and endangering the democratic process initiated in Tunisia in 2011. Tunisia is struggling to revive its public finances as discontent grows over inflation running at nearly 9 percent  and a shortage of many food items in stores because the country can’t afford to pay for some imports. The International Monetary Fund and major foreign donors want Tunisia to push ahead with cuts in subsidies and the restructuring of state-owned companies as well as steps to bring the public sector wage bill under control. The government’s spokesperson said on Friday that Tunisia hopes to reach an agreement with the IMF by the end of October after a wage deal agreed on  with unions was seen as a key step toward getting IMF support. The government and the powerful UGTT union on Thursday signed a deal to boost public sector wages by 5 percent, a step that may ease social tensions. But they did not announce any further agreement on reforms needed for an IMF bailout. “The Tunisian negotiating team was in contact yesterday with (the) IMF regarding the last terms of the agreement with the Fund,” said Nasreddine Nsibi, the government spokesperson. “We seek to reach a deal with the IMF before the end of October, which would make Tunisia able to fulfill all its commitments, including providing foods and energy products, paying wages and debt service,” he added. Fitch Ratings said on Friday that Tunisia’s wage agreement raises the likelihood of an IMF deal. Tunisian officials have said that Tunis aims for a $3 billion loan. The IMF has signaled it will not move forward with a bailout sought by Tunis unless the government brings on board the UGTT, which says it has more than a million members and has previously shut down the economy in strikes.