
Sayyid Shihab arrives in Iraq for Arab Summit
BAGHDAD: HH Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs, arrived in the Republic of Iraq on Friday evening, to lead the Sultanate of Oman's delegation at the 34th Arab Summit and the Fifth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit. HH Sayyid Shihab and his accompanying delegation were received at Baghdad International Airport by Fuad Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, Dr Hamid al Ghazi, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Qais Saad al Amri, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the Sultanate of Oman, Abdullah bin Nassir al Rahbi, Ambassador of Oman to Egypt and its Permanent Representative to the Arab League, the Charge D'affaires of Oman's Embassy in Iraq, some members of the embassy; and a number of Iraqi officials. — ONA
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Observer
5 days ago
- Observer
Qatar slams Iran attack on US base
DOHA: Explosions could be heard over Doha on Monday, shortly after Qatar, which hosts the biggest US base in the Middle East, suspended air traffic as Iran threatened retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear sites. Qatar's government has offered its "strong condemnation" of the attack on the Al Udeid Air Base. Oman expressed solidarity with Qatar while condemning the ongoing regional escalation, triggered by Israel's unlawful missile strike on Iran. An official statement of the Foreign Ministry said the latest Iranian missile strike targeting sovereign sites in Qatar is regarded by Oman as an unacceptable and condemned act, constituting a violation of the sovereignty of a brotherly GCC state. The act contradicts the principles of good neighbourliness and raises the risk of expanding a conflict that brings only further destruction and instability, threatening the security and safety of peoples across the region. It further called for an immediate halt to all military and missile operations, urging peaceful negotiations, and adherence to international law as the means to resolve the conflict and achieve a just settlement through legitimate avenues. "We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations charter," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X. He says Qatar's air defence systems "successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles" and the base had been evacuated earlier. Qatar, which lies 190 km south of Iran across the Gulf, is home to the United States' largest military base in the region, Al Udeid, which hosts the regional headquarters of the Pentagon's Central Command. Iran coordinated the attacks on the American air base in Qatar with Qatari officials and gave advanced notice that attacks were coming to minimise casualties, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the plans. The officials said Iran symbolically needed to strike back at the US but at the same time carry it out in a way that allowed all sides an exit ramp; they described it as a similar strategy to 2020 when Iran gave Iraq heads up before firing ballistic missiles an American base in Iraq following the assassination of its top general. United Arab Emirates airspace is currently closed based on flight paths and air traffic control audio, according to a post by FlightRadar on X on Monday. Kuwait and Bahrain also suspended air traffic temporarily on Monday. Iran has also attacked Iraq in retaliation for the bombing of its nuclear facilities, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA. It was initially unclear which sites were targeted in Iraq. However, Iraqi media reported that a state of maximum alert was declared and shelter orders issued at the Ain Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq. An Israeli representative told media outlets that Iran had fired a total of 10 missiles at US targets in Qatar on Monday. Shortly before the attacks in Qatar and Iraq were confirmed, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: "We did not start the war nor wanted it but we will not leave the aggression against the great Iran unanswered." — Agencies


Observer
21-06-2025
- Observer
Mass protests staged in Lebanon, Iraq against Israeli hits on Iran
BEIRUT/BAGHDAD: Angry protesters on Friday took to the streets in Lebanon and Iraq to denounce Israel's ongoing military campaign on Iran. In the Lebanese capital Beirut, hundreds of supporters of the Hezbollah movement poured into the city's southern Dahieh suburb in a show of solidarity with Iran. The protest began after the Friday prayers outside Al Qaeem Mosque in a Hezbollah stronghold where crowds chanted death to Israel, the United States and President Donald Trump. Demonstrators waved Iranian, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags; and voiced unwavering allegiance to Tehran. "America is the great Satan," shouted one protester, as loudspeakers played a recorded speech by the late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in September. Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar addressed the crowd, condemning Israeli threats against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "No one can threaten the leaders of Iran," he declared. As the rally unfolded, Israeli drones flew at low altitudes over Beirut and its southern suburbs. Similarly, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in various parts of the country including the capital Baghdad and protested against the Israeli attacks on neighbouring Iran, witnessed said. The demonstrations were in response to a call from Iraq's Muqtada al Sadr. Dozens of clerics led the protests that took place in several Iraqi areas, including the holy provinces of Karbala and Najaf, amidst intense heat. Some protesters chanted slogans against the Israeli strikes on Iran and called on their government to block Israel from using Iraqi airspace to launch the strikes, witnesses said. Iraq, which maintains good ties with both Washington and Tehran, is trying to stay clear of the fighting between Iran and Israel. An umbrella grouping known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, has repeatedly claimed strikes on US bases inside Iraq and neighbouring Syria with drones and missiles since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023. — dpa


Observer
15-06-2025
- Observer
Two Iranian drones shot down in Iraq
BAGHDAD: Two drones launched from Iran towards Israel were shot down over Iraq by the US-led international coalition to defeat the IS group, two Iraqi military officials said on Sunday. "The international coalition at Ain al Asad (military base) shot down two Iranian drones that were en route to Israel," one official said, referring to an Iraqi airbase housing foreign troops in western Iraq. The drones were shot down overnight on Saturday to Sunday, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The other official said the drones were targeted because they entered the defensive perimeter of the anti-jihadist coalition, where troops are instructed to engage any potential threat. Several missiles and drones have fallen in Iraqi territory, mostly in the desert, without causing casualties. An "explosive drone" was shot down by the coalition at Ain al Asad on Friday, according to an Iraqi official. The government in Baghdad is a close ally of Tehran, but also a strategic partner of Iran's arch-foe the United States, which has some 2,500 troops in Iraq as part of the coalition. Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition's forces. — AFP