Qatar Foreign Minister Visits UAE As Relations Thaw

“FORTUNE (9283746) is the 3rd tanker to have reached Baniyas, Syria with gasoil for Hezb’Allah’s distribution in Lebanon. Also, in addition to Iranian crude oil, Baniyas has received a larger-than-usual delivery of Russian fuel. What’s unique is that it wasn’t for navy in Tartus,” TankerTrackers.com said.

The Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement says the shipments it is importing should ease a crippling energy crisis in Lebanon. Part of the shipment will be sold by Hezbollah according to local media. Fuel will also be distributed among hospitals and other essential service centers.

It is not clear how much of the oil has been transported to Lebanon by land. Thousands of trip by tanker trucks are required.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last month the Iranian fuel shipments constitute a breach of Lebanon's sovereignty.

Both Syria and Iran are under US sanctions.

Khatibzadeh told reporters that there are no pre-conditions by the two sides in the current talks.

The Iranian spokesman did not confirm reports that a Saudi delegation will visit Tehran to reopen its embassy after Riyadh cut relations following the sacking of its diplomatic mission by Iranian protesters in January 2016.

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi (Raeesi) and his foreign policy team have several times emphasized that the priority of the new government in Tehran is to improve relations with regional countries. The United States and its regional allies demand a change in Tehran’s interferences in the rgion.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud had said Sunday that the latest round of talks had taken place on Sept. 21. He did not give the location of the meeting. But he emphasized that talks were still in their early stages.

"These discussions are still in the exploratory phase. We hope they will provide a basis to address unresolved issues between the two sides and we will strive and work to realize that,” he said.

"This was a terrorist incident directed by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus," Matan Sidi, spokesman for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said in a statement.

Iran's embassy in Cyprus on Monday described Israel's claims as 'baseless' that Tehran had plotted against Israelis on the island.

"This regime is always making such a baseless allegation against the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Iranian embassy said in an emailed response to a comment sought by Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, Cypriot police chief Stelios Papatheodorou told reporters: "A person has been arrested, in whose possession a pistol and cartridges were found."

"It is a sensitive case, which is why a remand request was held behind closed doors," Papatheodorou added.

Cypriot media, citing a police source, have reported that the suspect, who has not been charged, was arrested on Sept. 27 in the capital Nicosia, just after crossing by car from a checkpoint linking the Turkish-controlled north and the southern parts of the ethnically divided island.

A silencer was also found in his vehicle, the reports said. People using the checkpoint at the time reported extensive searches of vehicles during the crossover transit.

Israel appeared to hint that its intelligence services had contributed to Cyprus' foiling of the suspected attack plot.

"There are security threats. As you can see, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, all of the security forces know how to handle them," Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told reporters when asked about the incident. "The fact is that we're there. We're minding matters."

Cypriot media have also reported that the suspect was on the island for about 20 days prior to his arrest and rented two cars in succession. They said he used an electric scooter to travel frequently to the north side of the island via a pedestrian crossing.

In his statement, Sidi denied local media reports on Sunday that described the arrest as having thwarted a criminally motivated assassination attempt against Teddy Sagi, an Israeli magnate.

Report by Reuters

Jordan’s king has been advocating normalization of relations with Assad, calculating that the Syrian leader was there to stay. Jordan opposed Assad as a bloody civil war began in Syria a decade ago and even called for him to resign.

Abdullah affirmed his country’s support for “efforts to preserve Syria’s sovereignty, stability, territorial integrity and people.”

Reuters reports that Abdullah has been pressing Washington for months to engage Syria and back Russia's intervention in the war-torn country, saying this is needed to wean the country away from Iran's growing foothold, officials say.

The US State Department said on Wednesday that Washington has no plans to "normalize or upgrade" diplomatic relations with Assad's government and also does not encourage others to do so.

Amman has sought Russia's support to rein in the growing foothold of pro-Iranian militias who hold sway in southern Syria along the Syrian border with Jordan which has also alarmed Israel and Washington, officials add.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

The longtime foes who severed ties in 2016 began talks in April, at a time when Washington and Tehran were discussing reviving a nuclear pact that Riyadh and its allies had opposed.

Three rounds of Saudi-Iranian talks were held in Iraq in the months before Iran's new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, took office in August.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud said the latest round had taken place on Sept. 21. He did not give the location of the meeting. The date coincides with a speech by Raisi at the UN General Assembly in New York.

"These discussions are still in the exploratory phase. We hope they will provide a basis to address unresolved issues between the two sides and we will strive and work to realize that," he told a joint news conference.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed opposing sides in regional conflicts and political disputes in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq for years, and Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition waging war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.

Riyadh and Tehran have both said they hope the talks can ease tensions, while playing down expectations of a major diplomatic breakthrough. Iran did not immediately comment on the Sept. 21 round of talks. Riyadh has said it would judge the government of Raisi by the reality on the ground.

Prince Faisal was speaking during a visit to Riyadh by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who said he had briefed his partners on the prospects for restarting the nuclear talks.

Report by Reuters