Philippe Naggar

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held talks in Moscow on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit, discussing ongoing negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz and energy supplies.

On the eve of Israel’s general election, Iran said on Monday that the outcome would make no difference to the Islamic Republic. The remarks echo the regime’s long-standing rhetoric toward Israel.

Mehrdad Akhlaghi, who is subject to United Nations sanctions, formally became Iran's defense minister on Sunday, replacing the man killed on the first day of the war in Israeli-US strikes at the end of February.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, 71, said on Saturday that he will not seek to stay in power when his term ends in 2030.

Iraq has lost about $60 billion since the war in the Middle East began, its foreign minister said on Friday, as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz cut deeply into the country's oil exports.

The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions drawn from a June interim agreement with the United States are met, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Sunday.

The UAE has suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country from Thursday until further notice, its General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said, citing the US ban targeting Iranian carriers' access to airports worldwide.

Iranian flights to Gulf neighbours including travel hub Dubai appeared to have been cancelled on Thursday after a US deadline passed for global firms to halt work with Iran's airlines, a major step in a campaign President Donald Trump calls "economic D-Day".

Iranian media reported Monday that the United States has denied visas to part of President Masoud Pezeshkian's delegation, which is set to leave Iran Tuesday to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.

The United States has warned it fears a "rapid escalation" of hostilities in the Middle East, following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that struck the kingdom's capital for the first time in months.

The European Union said Saturday it regretted Washington's decision to deny visas, for the second year running, to Palestinian officials seeking to attend the UN General Assembly, urging a rethink.

Iraq closed three border crossings with Iran on Saturday, security officials told AFP, after a drone attack on a Saudi pipeline was launched from Iraqi territory, according to Riyadh and Baghdad.