Iran yesterday accused the United States of “procrastinating” in indirect talks aimed at reinstating Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal, and said a prisoner swap with Washington was not linked to the negotiations.

A European proposal to revive the nuclear agreement between Western countries and Iran is imminent and includes the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds and oil exports in return for the scaling back of its nuclear programme.

Israel yesterday said it plans to grant more work permits to Palestinians in blockaded Gaza, reviving a pledge made ahead of a visit by US President Joe Biden but later scrapped.

We are worried. We don’t want another Chernobyl. While continuing our efforts to find a solution, we remain on the side of our Ukraine friends.

Israeli security forces yesterday raided the offices of multiple Palestinian human rights groups in the occupied West Bank, which the state has branded “terrorist

Israel and Turkey announced the resumption of full diplomatic ties yesterday, following years of strained relations between the Mediterranean nations.

A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, according to court documents seen by AFP yesterday.

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian man they said had tried to stab officers during a home raid to locate weapons in east Jerusalem

Iran yesterday denied any link with the attacker of British author Salman Rushdie but blamed the writer himself for “insulting” Islam in the novel “The Satanic Verses”.

Egyptians voiced outrage yesterday over reports that firefighters and paramedics took over an hour to respond to a blaze that tore through a Coptic Christian church and killed 41 people.

Drones attacked a Syrian outpost of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition yesterday but there were no injuries, the coalition said.

Iranians reacted with praise and worry Saturday over the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death.

Widespread protests were called in Syria’s rebel-held north yesterday over a proposal from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for reconciliation between the Syrian government and opposition.

Israeli security forces killed two Palestinians in a gunbattle in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the military said, triggering further clashes in which Palestinians said a 16-year-old youth was also killed.

Iran said yesterday it is examining a “final text” presented by the European Union at the negotiations in Vienna aimed at restoring a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Israel and Palestinian militants have agreed to a truce in Gaza from yesterday evening as mediated by Cairo, sources said, after a weekend-long pounding of Palestinian targets by Israel triggered longer-range rocket attacks against its cities.

Israel’s military yesterday warned deadly air strikes against Palestinian militants in Gaza could last a week, as cross-border fire reverberated for a second day in the worst escalation since last year’s war.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Turkey will start paying for some of its Russian natural gas imports in rubles.

Escalation of Violence in Gaza

Israeli jets pounded targets in Gaza on Saturday and rocket barrages into southern Israel persisted, raising fears of an escalation after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 12 people, including a 5-year-old girl.