April 28 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will host an exceptional meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became a front in the Iran war two months ago. A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting aimed to craft a…
DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – Significant differences between Iran and the United States remain to reach a deal aimed at ending the war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday, adding that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is “conditional on U.S. adherence to the terms of ceasefire”. The official, who spoke on condition…
KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) – Ukraine is in talks with Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain to cooperate in the security sector and share its drone defence expertise and technology, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy visited several Middle Eastern countries last month to offer Ukraine’s technology and expertise on how to counter Iranian drone attacks. Security cooperation…
BEIRUT, April 9 (Reuters) – Lebanon has spent the last 24 hours advocating for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters, saying it would be a “separate track but the same model” as a fragile truce brokered by Pakistan between the U.S. and Iran. The official…
April 2 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday offered to provide Ukraine’s expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to countries considering how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open amid conflict in the Middle East. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had taken…
VAUX-DE-CERNAY, France, March 27 (Reuters) – Ukraine is close to clinching several security agreements — including with the UAE and Qatar — to counter Iranian attacks, its foreign minister said on Friday, adding that he saw scope to draw China into peace efforts to end the war with Russia. “We have the situation in the…
The Hong Kong government has raised the outbound travel alert for Iran and Israel to black, and expanded the amber alert to include Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The government on Monday announced the escalation “in view of the continued deterioration of the situation in the Middle East…
Hong Kong will continue its efforts to expand business opportunities in the Middle East despite recent geopolitical tensions, as the city remains a safe and stable investment hub amid global volatility, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said. Despite his optimism, Lee conceded that the conflict in the Middle East had affected Hong Kong through…
By Maya Gebeily, Alexander Cornwell, Nandita Bose and Parisa Hafezi BEIRUT/MIAMI/TEL AVIV/DUBAI, March 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he is not interested in negotiating with Iran and raised the possibility that the Iran war would only end once Tehran no longer has a functioning military or any remaining leadership in power. Speaking…
US-Israeli strikes on Iran have grounded at least 37 flights between Hong Kong and the Middle East, with flag carrier Cathay Pacific suspending its Dubai services until Thursday. Cathay also announced on Monday that it would suspend its Riyadh flights until Tuesday amid the developing situation in the region. The carrier said customers booked to…