Mena Today

Saudi Arabia reserves the right to act militarily against Iran and any trust with Tehran has been shattered, the Saudi foreign minister said early on Thursday, after Riyadh was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he believes pipelines should be built to transport Middle East oil and gas across the Arabian Peninsula and up to Israeli ports to avoid threats by Iran in the Hormuz Strait and other Gulf waters.

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, said on Thursday he would ban mass Muslim prayer at historic British sites if elected as prime minister, describing an event this week in London as an attempt to "overtake, intimidate and dominate".

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council has issued a landmark condemnation of Iran's threats and attacks against vessels and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, declaring them contrary to IMO principles and a "grave danger to life », particularly to seafarers.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 250 prisoners on Thursday - the biggest batch to be released so far - in return for a further easing of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. embassy in neighbouring Lithuania said.

The first falsehood to clear away is this: what Israel and the United States are doing is not a war on Iran. It is a confrontation with the Islamic Republic, the dictatorship that has ruled Iran since 1979, oppressed its own citizens, and turned a civilization of enormous depth and distinction into the instrument of a theocratic project.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, is taking a more central role as Israeli and U.S. strikes pick off the Islamic Republic's political leadership, making him a critical figure at a decisive moment.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi has broken with diplomatic convention to accuse the United States of being "dragged into war" by Israel, at a moment when a nuclear deal was, in his words, "genuinely within reach."

If the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran ended tomorrow, one verdict is already clear: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would walk away stronger, while President Donald Trump would be left to manage the shock to global markets and to Gulf allies who have borne the heaviest costs.

An air defence system operated by Greek military personnel in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles launched from Iran on Thursday, Greece's defence minister said.

A cross-border drone attack from Sudan killed 17 people in Chad including mourners attending a funeral service, the Chadian government and local sources said on Thursday, and the country's president vowed to retaliate for any further attacks.

Former US Under Secretary of State David Schenker delivered a stark warning Wednesday: Lebanon must disarm Hezbollah,  or face the consequences of Israeli bombardment indefinitely.