Iran president arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan on day two of visit

Iran president arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan on day two of visit
Nechirvan Barzani (R), the regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, welcomes Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Iraq's Kurdish regional capital Arbil upon his arrival from Baghdad on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 13 September 2024
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Iran president arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan on day two of visit

Iran president arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan on day two of visit
  • It is Pezeshkian’s first foreign trip abroad since he took office in July
  • Tehran in 2022 repeatedly carried out strikes on armed groups in Kurdistan

Irbil: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived Thursday in Iraqi Kurdistan to meet the autonomous region’s leaders, on the second day of a visit aimed at deepening ties with the neighboring country.
It is Pezeshkian’s first foreign trip abroad since he took office in July.
Stepping off his plane in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Pezeshkian was welcomed by regional president Nechirvan Barzani on a red carpet lined with Kurdish Peshmerga forces standing at attention with rifles at their sides.
Pezeshkian held talks with Barzani and Kurdistan’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani, before heading to Sulaimaniyah, a city where the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party wields influence including in the local security services.
On Wednesday, the first leg of his three-day visit, Pezeshkian announced in Baghdad the signing of more than a dozen agreements to strengthen ties between Iran and Iraq.
His trip comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East due to the war in Gaza, which has drawn in Iran-backed armed groups and complicated Iraq’s relations with the United States.
Iran’s ties with Iraqi Kurdistan have improved in recent months, aided by efforts to neutralize Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, which have long operated in the region.
Tehran in 2022 repeatedly carried out strikes on armed groups in Kurdistan, before Iraq in March 2023 signed a security agreement with Iran. Baghdad committed to disarm these groups and relocate them from border areas to camps.
“We have succeeded... in regulating the security situation in the border areas,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani said on Wednesday, reiterating Iraq’s refusal to allow any acts of aggression to be launched against Iran from its territory.
Iran had accused the Iranian Kurdish opposition of smuggling weapons from Iraq and launching attacks on its security forces.
It also accused these movements of fueling protests that shook Iran after the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd arrested by the morality police.


Israel military official says ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack

Israel military official says ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack
Updated 12 sec ago
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Israel military official says ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack

Israel military official says ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack
JERUSALEM: An Israeli official told AFP on Saturday that the military is “preparing a response” to the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel earlier this week.
“The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel,” the military official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
He did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the response.
Israel’s left-leaning newspaper Haaretz, quoting the military, reported that the military’s response will be “significant.”
“The IDF is preparing for a significant strike in Iran following this week’s missile attack from Tehran,” the newspaper reported.
“The military does not rule out the possibility that Iran may launch missiles at Israeli territory again after the Israeli attack,” it added.
On October 1, Iran launched around 200 missiles at Israel, its second direct attack on the country in less than six months.
Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense system, while some hit military bases but did not cause major damage or casualties.
Iran said the missiles were launched to avenge the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah who was killed by an Israeli air strike in the Lebanese capital on September 27.
Iran’s missile attack was also in response to the death of the former political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31.
Both Iran and Hamas blame Israel for Haniyeh’s killing. Israel has not commented on his death.

Iran FM renews call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefires on Syria visit

Iran FM renews call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefires on Syria visit
Updated 13 min 33 sec ago
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Iran FM renews call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefires on Syria visit

Iran FM renews call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefires on Syria visit
  • Syria’s Assad says Iran’s attack on Israel taught it ‘lesson’
  • Araghchi’s visit to Damascus is his first since he took office in August

DAMASCUS: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon on Saturday as he held talks with his country’s Syrian ally.
“The most important issue today is the ceasefire, especially in Lebanon and in Gaza,” he told reporters.
“There are initiatives in this regard, there have been consultations that we hope will be successful.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Iran’s second-ever missile attack on Israel this week was a “lesson” for Israel.
The missile attack on Tuesday evening, just days after Israel killed the leader of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was “a strong response and taught the Zionist entity a lesson,” Assad was quoted as saying as Araghchi visited Damascus.
Araghchi’s visit to Damascus, his first since he took office in August, comes almost a year after Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, triggering war in Gaza.
The conflict has also drawn in Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah and on September 23 Israel sharply intensified its campaign against the militant group.
“The purpose of my trip to Damascus is to continue consultations regarding the developments in the region,” Araghchi said.
His meetings in the Syrian capital follow a visit to Beirut Friday during which he voiced support for a truce in Lebanon acceptable to Hezbollah “simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Araghchi traveled to Damascus by air after Lebanon said an Israeli air strike on Friday severed the main international highway linking the two countries.
Israel said its strike was aimed at preventing the flow of weapons to Hezbollah from neighboring Syria.
Iran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the civil war that erupted in 2011 following the suppression of anti-government protests.


Israel issues first Gaza evacuation warning in weeks

Israel issues first Gaza evacuation warning in weeks
Updated 05 October 2024
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Israel issues first Gaza evacuation warning in weeks

Israel issues first Gaza evacuation warning in weeks
  • The evacuation call is the first in weeks for Gaza as the Israeli military has largely shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Palestinians living in areas near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza have been warned to evacuate

GAZA: The Israeli army warned residents to evacuate part of central Gaza on Saturday, saying the military was preparing to use “great force” against Hamas fighters in the area.
The evacuation call is the first in weeks for Gaza as the Israeli military has largely shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Hamas and the terrorist organizations continue their terrorist activities within your area and, as a result, the IDF (military) will act with great force against these elements,” the evacuation order posted by the Israeli army said, with an attached map listing the blocks to be evacuated.
Palestinians living in areas near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza have been warned to evacuate under the latest order posted on X.
Israel has destroyed large swathes of Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 attack last year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly pledging to secure total victory over the militants.
A year later, the confirmed death toll from the Hamas attack — including hostages killed in captivity — has reached 1,205 on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants abducted 251 hostages during the attack, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military has said are dead.
In Gaza, nearly all of its 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once.
At least 41,825 people have been killed, most of them women or children, according to the territory’s health ministry. The United Nations has acknowledged the figures as reliable.
The Israeli military has often returned to areas where it has previously conducted operations in response to reports of resurgent Hamas activity.


Emirates bans pagers, walkie-talkies onboard after Lebanon blasts

Emirates bans pagers, walkie-talkies onboard after Lebanon blasts
Updated 05 October 2024
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Emirates bans pagers, walkie-talkies onboard after Lebanon blasts

Emirates bans pagers, walkie-talkies onboard after Lebanon blasts
  • mirates said that “such items found in passengers’ hand luggage or checked baggage will be confiscated by Dubai Police.”

Dubai: Dubai-based airline Emirates has banned pagers and walkie-talkies onboard its planes following sabotage attacks in Lebanon, and extended flight cancelations for Middle East destinations due to regional escalation.
“All Passengers traveling on flights to, from or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the carrier said, weeks after a wave of exploding communication devices used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which blamed Israel for the attacks.
In a statement posted on its website on Friday, Emirates said that “such items found in passengers’ hand luggage or checked baggage will be confiscated by Dubai Police.”
The blasts last month killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 across Lebanon.
Emirates, the Middle East’s biggest airline,also announced that its Iraq and Iran routes will remain suspended until Tuesday.
The cancelations were first announced in the wake of a major Iranian attack on Israel this week that saw missiles flying over Iraq and Iran.
Emirates said its flights to Jordan, which were also suspended, would resume on Sunday.
Flights to and from Lebanon will remain suspended until October 15, Emirates said, as Israel steps up attacks on the country, including parts of the capital near its only airport.
Several other carriers have also put some services to and from Beirut and other Middle East airports on hold.


Roadside bomb wounds four in Iraq’s Kirkuk

Roadside bomb wounds four in Iraq’s Kirkuk
Updated 05 October 2024
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Roadside bomb wounds four in Iraq’s Kirkuk

Roadside bomb wounds four in Iraq’s Kirkuk

Baghdad: A roadside bomb wounded four people in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police sources said.
The bomb targeted a commercial district in the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Earlier in the week, four Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others injured in an ambush on an army convoy southwest of Kirkuk, which Daesh militants claimed responsibility for.
Despite the group’s defeat in 2017, remnants continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks against government forces.