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Mohsen Rezaei appointed as secretary of Iran's top security body

DUBAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Iran has changed its secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, appointing former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei as second-in-command on the body that coordinates the country's security and foreign policy.

Rezaei is more of an outspoken public figure than his predecessor, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr. The appointment was announced late on Sunday by President Masoud Pezeshkian's deputy director of communications.

FILE PHOTO: Adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran, for international delegates at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026.  REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Israeli military closes Palestinian Christian village Taybeh, citing settler attacks

JERUSALEM, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Israel's military on Sunday closed the West Bank village of Taybeh to non-residents, saying it aimed to prevent growing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers across the West Bank.

The order, the military said, only applies to Israelis and not to Palestinians. A spokesperson said turning Taybeh into a closed military zone was "due to some violent attacks by Israelis in the region."

Israeli settlers put out a fire by a settler outpost, near the Palestinian town Taybeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 17, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Pleasing no one: Netanyahu puts election first with Gaza decision

Faced with a divisive US-led Gaza plan just before elections that could end his career, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to choose between pleasing his ally Donald Trump or his right-wing base.

In rejecting the plan, he may not please anyone.

The decision is a tactical and PR victory for Hamas, analysts say, with the Islamist movement publicly backing the deal under which it would disarm, without taking any steps yet to do so.

Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) speaks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in parliament on July 16, 2026

Lebanon indicts ex-central bank governor Salameh over new alleged financial crimes

BEIRUT, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A Lebanese judge on Monday indicted former central bank governor Riad Salameh and a former commercial banker, accusing them of financial crimes including embezzlement and illicit enrichment, a senior Lebanese judicial source told Reuters.

Salameh, who headed the Lebanese Central Bank for three decades, has already been indicted and arrested in Lebanon over other alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure. He has denied any wrongdoing.

FILE PHOTO: Longtime chief of Lebanon's Central Bank Riad Salameh, poses as he leaves office after a 30-year tenure, at Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir//File Photo

Explainer-Trump's Gaza plan hinges on Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawals

JERUSALEM, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's latest plan to end the Gaza war calls on Hamas to lay down its arms as Israel withdraws from the territory, terms endorsed by the militants but rejected by Israel, which says it will not pull back until the group's disarmament is complete.

WHAT IS TRUMP'S LATEST PLAN FOR GAZA?

The U.S. president on July 30 hailed what he described as a breakthrough in talks to advance a 2025 ceasefire plan, saying that Hamas and other Gaza militants had accepted a 15-point roadmap by his so-called "Board of Peace" to give up their weapons.

FILE PHOTO: Protesters carry Palestinian flags near the White House, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 28, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

German foreign ministry says Gaza plan could lead towards disarmament of Hamas

FRANKFURT, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The German government regards U.S. President Donald Trump's latest Gaza plan as an opportunity to make progress towards the disarmament of Hamas, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Asked in a regular news conference about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of the plan, the spokesperson also said some disagreement was to be expected.

"With such a complex undertaking, it was perfectly clear there would be many, many unanswered questions," he said.

Palestinian children walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, at Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Iran says no reason to fear Pakistan-Turkey-Saudi security pact

DUBAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Iran sees no reason to be concerned that a new security pact between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia is directed against Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.

Baghaei said the pact showed a shift in regional countries' approach to security, with greater reliance on their own capabilities rather than outside powers.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pose after signing a joint defence agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, August 7, 2026. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.  WATERMARK FROM SOURCE     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Yemen's Houthis attack Saudi refinery after kingdom signs defence pact

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery, they said on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The alliance with Sunni Muslim U.S. allies, Turkey and Pakistan, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.

FILE PHOTO: A composite satellite image shows trail of smoke rising from an oil facility, in Jizan, Jazan province, Saudi Arabia, July 26, 2026. European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran says Oman deal is in 'final stages' but US must act to open Hormuz

By Nayera Abdallah, Steve Holland and Enas Alashray

DUBAI/WASHINGTON/CAIRO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman defining new shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages but reiterated that the waterway would only reopen once the United States met other conditions.

A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could soon reopen the waterway, which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran blocked it in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer