DUBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that if the U.S. attacked Iran it would become a regional conflict, state media reported on Sunday, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The U.S. has built up its naval presence in the Middle East after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened Iran with intervention if it did not agree to a nuclear deal or failed to stop killing protesters.
By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO Feb 1 (Reuters) - Preparations to reopen Gaza's main border crossing in Rafah were underway on Sunday though it was uncertain any Palestinians would pass through it before the day's end, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
Before the war, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world as well as a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been largely shut since May 2024.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran after the country's supreme leader warned that any US attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional war.
Following the Iranian authorities' deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a "coup", warning that a US attack would trigger a broad conflict.
By Andrea Shalal, Timour Azhari and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON/RIYADH, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Mark Savaya, named by U.S. President Donald Trump as special envoy for Iraq in October, is no longer in that role, sources familiar with the move said.
The move comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Baghdad over Washington's push to curb Iranian influence in Iraqi politics.
DUBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Iran considers as "terrorist groups" the armies of EU countries that listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organisations, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday.
The EU marked a symbolic shift in its approach to Iran's leadership on Thursday by designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, following what turned out to be the Islamic Republic's bloodiest crackdown of protests since its establishment in 1979.
Israel partially reopened the Rafah crossing between the devastated Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, following months of appeals from aid groups, though access is limited to pedestrians.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body coordinating Palestinian civilian affairs, made no mention of allowing in a long hoped-for surge of aid, and clarified that the passage of individuals through the gateway in both directions was expected to begin Monday.
The mayor of Suakin dreams of a rebirth for his town, an ancient Red Sea port spared by the wars that have marked Sudan's history but reduced to ruins by the ravages of time.
"It was called the 'White City'," for its unique buildings made of coral stone taken from the seabed, said mayor Abu Mohamed El-Amin Artega, who is also the leader of the Artega tribe, part of eastern Sudan's Beja ethnic group.
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in Tehran and reviewed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, Qatar's foreign ministry said on Saturday in a statement.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Writing by Enas Alashray; editing by Diane Craft)
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Iraq's alliance of Shi'ite political blocs, the Coordination Framework, reaffirmed on Saturday its support for former premier Nouri al-Maliki to lead the next government, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington would no longer help Iraq if Maliki returned to power.
The bloc, which holds a majority in parliament, picked Maliki, Iraq's first elected prime minister after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, as its nominee for the post following an election.
By Saleem Ahmed
QUETTA, Pakistan, Jan 31 (Reuters) - At least 92 militants were killed on Saturday battling Pakistan's security forces in multiple cities across the southwestern province of Balochistan, four security officials told Reuters.
Pakistan's military said in a statement sent by text message that 15 security personnel were also killed during clearance operations, while militants targeted civilians in several areas, killing at least 18 people, including women and children.
