Israel

The U.S. must intervene more aggressively to stop a Syrian offensive which has gained key territory from Kurdish militants in the past few days, according to the leader of 'the main kurdish forces. Officials and security sources reported that government troops launched an offensive Saturday in territory controlled by semi-autonomous Kurdish authority for the past decade. They captured towns on both side of the Euphrates as well as the largest oilfield as well as a gas field. Sipan Hamo, commander of the People's Protection Units(YPG), said that a meeting held on Saturday between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack (and Kurdish officials)...

Lebanese Army said that they had achieved their goal of a monopoly on arms in the south. They said this was done in an "effective" and tangible manner. However, there is still more work to do to remove unexploded ordnances and tunnels from the area. The army set a deadline of year's end to remove?non state weaponry? from the southern Lebanon bordering Israel before moving to other areas. It claimed to have extended its operational control over the southern areas, except those still occupied with Israeli troops. The statement did not mention the Lebanese Hezbollah armed group, which fought an...

Egypt's Foreign Minister said that the Palestinian issue was crucial to progressing in the U.S.-funded transport project connecting India to Europe by sea and rail via the Middle East. The India-Middle East Economic Corridor was announced in September 2023 on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies. It was seen as a U.S. rival to China's Belt and Road initiative on global infrastructure. A month after the announcement of the decision, war broke out in response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023. "We must remember...

Naim Qassem, the Hezbollah leader, urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to "turn a new page" and put aside past disputes in order to create a united front against Israel. This comes after years of hostility which strained Riyadh’s ties to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States designated Shi'ite Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2016. Riyadh, Washington, and Hezbollah rivals in Lebanon have been pressing the Lebanese Government to disarm Hezbollah, which has been severely weakened since last year's conflict with Israel. Qassem, in a Friday televised speech, said that regional power should view Israel and not Hezbollah...

Israel attacked the Hamas leadership in Qatar, where this Palestinian Islamist group had long been based. Here are some comments from state and national leaders in response. ISRAELI PREMIER MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU "Today's operation against top terrorist leaders of Hamas is a completely independent Israeli operation. Israel is fully responsible for the event, as it was Israel who initiated, conducted and conducted it. "Qatar condemns the cowardly Israeli assault that targeted the residential buildings in Doha, the Qatari capital where several members of Hamas' Political Bureau resided." This criminal attack is a flagrant violation of international law and norms and...

Israel attacked the Hamas leadership in Qatar, where this Palestinian Islamist group had long been based. Here are some comments from state and national leaders in response. ISRAELI PREMIER MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU "Today's operation against top terrorist leaders of Hamas is a completely independent Israeli operation. Israel is fully responsible for the event, as it was Israel who initiated, conducted and took full responsibility." "Qatar condemns the cowardly Israeli assault that targeted the residential buildings in Doha, the Qatari capital where several members of Hamas' Political Bureau resided." This criminal attack is a flagrant violation of international law and norms...

Israel attacked the Hamas leadership in Qatar, where this Palestinian Islamist group had long been based. Here are some comments from state and national leaders in response. ISRAELI PREMIER MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU "Today's operation against top terrorist leaders of Hamas is a completely independent Israeli operation. Israel is fully responsible for the event, as it was Israel who initiated, conducted and orchestrated it. "Qatar condemns the cowardly Israeli assault that targeted the residential buildings in Doha, the Qatari capital where several members of Hamas' Political Bureau resided." This criminal attack is a flagrant violation of international law and norms and...

Investors bought traditional safe-haven investments on Tuesday. Gold briefly reached a record high after the Israeli military claimed it had attacked Hamas leaders in Qatar. This marked an escalation in the conflict in this region. The Japanese yen, Swiss franc and oil prices all rose by about $1 per barrel. COMMENTS: MICHAEL BROWN SENIOR RESEARCHER, PEPPERSTONE LONDON. The immediate reaction to the spike in crude benchmarks, and a slight increase in spot gold is logical. Qatar's response immediately shows that it is not looking to escalate tensions or retaliate. "I'd expect the rally in crude to fade relatively rapidly, as...

The Colombian president Gustavo Petro threatened on Tuesday to unilaterally change Glencore's contract with the government if it continued to export coal to Israel. However, the company claimed that the shipments had already stopped in accordance with a presidential order. Petro, who spoke at an event organized by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States for CELAC on energy, said: "I'm willing to unilaterally alter the concession contract." The president warned that, if Glencore refused to comply with his order to suspend the shipment of coal from the mine, he would call on the local communities to blockade the...

The wholesale gas price in the Netherlands and Britain fell by more than 10% Tuesday morning, following the news that Iran had agreed to a ceasefire with Israel. This removed the premium for risk the market had built into the market due to potential disruptions of oil and gas supplies. The benchmark Dutch front month contract at the TTF Hub fell by 4.86 euro to 36.38 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $12.38/mmBtu by 0939 GMT. It had traded as low 35.45 Euros/MWh earlier, LSEG's data showed. The British front-month contracts was down 13.72 pennies at 84.85 cents per...

Five trading sources said that Egypt wants to buy more fuel oil in order to meet its electricity generation needs. Fuel oil has been purchased in greater quantities by the country this year to ease a gas shortage that resulted from the loss of gas pipelines connecting Israel and Egypt. According to trading sources, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation is looking for about 900,000.0 metric tons (tonnage) of fuel oil in its latest tender. One source said that the tender will be closed on July 2, and valid until July 10. The Egyptian Petroleum Ministry didn't immediately respond to an...

Two vessel tracking companies said that Iran maintains crude oil supplies by loading tanks one at atime and moving floating storage closer to China. The country is trying to keep its main source of income while being attacked by Israel. The conflict that erupted between Iran and Israel last week is a new obstacle for Iran. It uses a fleet of shadow tankers to hide their origins and avoid U.S. sanctions imposed in 2018 due to its nuclear program. Iran is the third largest producer of crude oil in OPEC. Most of its exports go to China. The trackers reported...

Naim Qassem said that the leader of Lebanon's Iran aligned Hezbollah, Naim, was worried about Washington's threats against Iran. He also expressed concern for any threat made by Washington towards Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ayatollah Khamenei. The tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel have increased following a crackdown against protests in Iran that resulted in thousands of deaths in recent weeks. President Donald Trump suggested this could lead to an American response. Tehran warned that any attack against?Khamenei could trigger a "holy conflict". "We are worried about what is happening and targeted by potential aggression. We are?determined?to defend ourselves....

The White House reported that regional fears about a U.S. strike on Iran were eased when President Donald Trump stated that Tehran assured him protesters wouldn't be executed. However, he still has "all his options" on the table. Israel and the United States carried out their last major strike on Iran in June, targeting mainly key nuclear facilities. Which nuclear sites were hit? The three uranium enrichment plants in Iran - two at Natanz, and one hidden inside a mountain near Fordow – as well as the sprawling Isfahan complex that includes a number of?facilities?that are part of the nuclear...

Iran is open to a "fair and balanced proposal" from the United States, but Tehran still hasn't received any negotiation proposal, said Iran's top diplomat on Saturday. Abbas Araqchi, Iran's foreign minister, told state TV that he would consider any American proposal for negotiation if it was reasonable, fair, and balanced. Araqchi, however, said that Tehran would not give up "its right to enrich uranium", but could take confidence-building steps regarding "the peacefulness of its nuclear program." Araqchi added that Washington and Tehran had been exchanging messages via mediators. Israel, the United States and its European allies accuse Tehran, of...

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi will meet officials from Britain France and Germany (the so-called E3) in Vienna, Iran’s state-run Nournews reported on Sunday. International sanctions against Tehran for its nuclear program are due to be reimposed by the end of the month. The agency did not give a date for the trip but said that the mutual negotiations and issues related to Iranian relations with Europe would be discussed. Last week, Iranian and European Ministers held discussions in an effort to avoid the reimposition sanctions against Tehran. According to two European and one Iranian diplomat, the talks failed to...

A senior U.S. official stated on Tuesday that Yemen's Iran aligned Houthi group will be a persistent issue for the U.S. even after Washington reached an agreement with the Houthis last month, ending a U.S. aerial campaign against the group. Air Force Lieutenant-General Alexus Grynkewich told lawmakers that the Houthis will likely be a persistent issue... with which we'll have to deal in the future. Grynkewich was nominated as the new commander of U.S. Military's European Command. Last month, Donald Trump announced that the U.S. was ceasing to bomb the Houthis who were firing on U.S. warships, as well as...

The Kremlin reacted to criticism on Tuesday that it hadn't done enough for Iran. It said it had taken "a clear position" in condemning U.S. Vladimir Putin condemned the "unjustified attacks" by the United States on Iranian nuclear sites, which he had signed a treaty of strategic cooperation with in January. He stated on Monday that Russia will try to assist the Iranian people. However, he did not give any specifics. Earlier this week, Iranian sources said that Tehran was not impressed by Russia's support. When asked about the comparisons with the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad last year,...

Since Israel's military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities on 13 June, the U.N. nuclear watchdog that polices the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been unable to conduct inspections in Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency has a number of inspection powers. IS THE IAEA UNIVERSAL IN JURISDICTION? No. The IAEA has agreements with other countries that do not fall under its oversight. Iran is a signatory to the NPT, and is therefore subject to IAEA supervision. This includes inspections to ensure that nuclear material like uranium does not get "diverted", for example to be used in atomic weapons. Israel is...

U.S. strikes on the Isfahan complex, which houses Iran's vast uranium-enriched stockpile, caused damage to the tunnels that store a portion of the uranium. The U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed this Sunday. The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement saying that "we have established that the entrances to the underground tunnels on the site were affected." Isfahan is the site where officials have said that a large amount of Iran's highly enriched uranium is stored. Rafael Grossi, chief of IAEA, confirmed in a statement made to the U.N. Security Council shortly after the IAEA's statement that the tunnels were part...

Igor Sechin said that the OPEC+ group, which includes major oil producers around the world, could accelerate its production increases by a year compared to their initial plan. He said the decision of OPEC+ to increase output now looks far-sighted and justifiable in light of the conflict between Israel and Iran. In April, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia shocked the oil markets by agreeing to a larger-than-expected increase in output for May, despite low prices and a slowing of demand. OPEC+ decided to increase prices by more than originally planned. "The...

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned on Tuesday the continued Israeli attacks against Iran and said that a diplomatic solution could only be reached to resolve the conflict regarding Tehran's nuclear program. The ministry posted a statement on Telegram saying that "Israel's continued intensive attacks on Iran’s peaceful nuclear sites violate international law, create unacceptable threats to the international security of the world and lead to a nuclear disaster ...,"." The report said that the widespread condemnation of Israeli action showed that Israel only found support "from states that are actually co-participants, and who act for opportunistic purposes." The Ministry noted...

Israel and Iran attacked one another for the fifth day in a row on Tuesday. U.S. president Donald Trump called on Iranians to leave Tehran citing his country's alleged rejection of a nuclear arms deal. The White House announced that Trump would leave the Group of Seven Summit in Canada a day earlier than planned due to the Middle East crisis. Fox News reported that he would convene the National Security Council. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Trump's early departure is positive because the immediate goal was to get Israel to agree to a truce with Iran. "Iran would...

The Kremlin announced on Monday that Russia is still ready to serve as a mediator between Israel and Iran. Moscow's proposal to store Iranian Uranium in Russia also remains on the table. Tehran claims it has a right to peaceful nuclear energy, but the rapid progress of its uranium-enrichment programme has sparked fears across the Gulf and the West that the country is trying to build a nuclear bomb. enriched uranium It is possible to ease the crisis by converting nuclear fuel from Iran into civilian reactor fuel. This proposal is still on the table and it is still relevant....