Mena Today

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will attack Iran "very hard" if no peace deal is secured and announced the U.S. military secretly escorted ships carrying more than 100 million barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, moderating global oil prices.   

Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute has appointed Princess Maha Al Saud as its new chief executive, marking a significant leadership transition at one of the world's most high-profile investment summits.

The United States, Australia, European allies and other countries condemned Iran-backed groups' plots to kill Iranian dissidents, journalists and Jewish communities in a joint statement released on Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, as Israel pressed its campaign against Hezbollah and the Iran-backed group claimed fresh attacks against Israeli forces in the south.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his rhetorical offensive against Israel on Wednesday, telling lawmakers from his ruling AK Party that Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Syria had reached a point where they "also threaten Turkey », a claim that says far more about Turkish domestic politics than it does about regional security realities.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Tehran has taken too long to negotiate a deal and would now "have to pay the price" after Iran and the United States exchanged strikes in the region amid reported efforts to continue talks.

Anwar Gargash, the influential diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, met Monday in Paris with Anne Claire Le Jeune, the newly appointed president of the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), praising the cultural institution for its role in "strengthening cultural and civilisational dialogue between the Arab world and Europe."

Benjamin Netanyahu will seek re-election this year, his party announced on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he wasn't sure if the Israeli prime minister would stand again.

Saudi Arabia launched Riyadh Air on Wednesday, with its inaugural flight departing King Khalid International Airport at 2:35am bound for London Heathrow, marking the culmination of more than four years of preparation and a bold challenge to Gulf aviation giants Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out missile and drone attacks on U.S. military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States on Tuesday launched strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said Tehran had shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening doubts about prospects for peace between the two countries. 

Iran's national football team will travel to the United States by charter flight on June 14 — just one day before their opening World Cup match against New Zealand in Los Angeles, the Iranian Football Federation confirmed Tuesday.