Politics - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Politics

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After Jordan, Emirates also furious with Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not only managed to get into a diplomatic row with Jordan, he also succeeded in angering the Emiratis.

A cameraman arrives at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),prior to a press conference at the agency's headquarters in Vienna on March 4, 2021. - European nations will not go ahead with a planned resolution criticising Iran at this week's meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, diplomatic sources said on March 4, 2021. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP) (Photo by ALEX HALADA/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran operating new advanced centrifuges, nuclear watchdog finds

According to an International Atomic Energy Agency report, Iran is now using IR-4 centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the nuclear accord.

Turkish member of Parliament for the left wing political party Peoples' Democratic Party Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu (C) reacts as he is surrounded by MPs applauding and brandishing placards after he was dismissed following a vote at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Lawsuit filed to close pro-Kurdish party after lawmaker stripped of parliamentary seat

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party deputy known to focus on human rights abuses, was stripped of his parliament seat and a lawsuit was filed to close the party March 17.

Netanyahu courts Arab voters as 'Abu Yair'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted a new strategy for the Arab public: cynically rebranding himself as "Abu Yair."

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Iran’s supreme leader authorized infowar campaign during US election

Rights group criticizes Jordan over debt imprisonment

Jordanian detainees look on through the window of a rehabilitation centre in Zarqa, 30 kilometres east of Amman, on July 11, 2018. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Lapid’s discrete campaign for premiership gains momentum

A man walks past election billboards of the Israeli Likud party (R to L) showing the face of Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu with the tagline "leader", and another showing Netanyahu with political opponent Yair Lapid with text in Hebrew reading "the next prime minister: Lapid or Netanyahu", in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on March 15, 2021, ahead of the election due later in the month. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

COVID accelerates evolution of Gulf economies

Saudi female employees work at the customers service desk at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women, in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, on February 21, 2021. (Photo by Amer HILABI / AFP) (Photo by AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images)

Vehicles belonging to Libyan fighters loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) are pictured during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar in al-Hira region 70 km south of the capital Tripoli, on April 23, 2019. - At least 264 people have been killed and over 1,200 wounded in weeks of fighting on the outskirts of Libya's capital, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, as African leaders gathered in Cairo to discuss the crisis. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo credit sh

Cairo frets over workers in Libya as Tripoli struggles to establish security

As Libya inches toward a political resolution of its long war, Egypt is focusing on protecting its workers in the country.

Trump administration unveils more sanctions tied to Iran

Six companies and four people were blacklisted by the Treasury Department on Tuesday.

Newly appointed Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan (L) speaks to media after attending a ceremony marking the 82th death anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at the mausoleum in Ankara on November 10, 2020. - Turkey's lira surged to its biggest gain in two years on November 9, 2020, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powerful son-in-law quit as finance minister following the abrupt appointment of a new central bank chief. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Amid market tumult, Erdogan appoints new finance minister

Investors are watching for policy shifts as Turkey’s Former Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Elvan takes the helm of the nation’s Finance Ministry following the surprise resignation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak.

A woman holds the national flag and a portrait of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev as people celebrate in the streets of the capital Baku on November 10, 2020, after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a ceasefire following a string of Azeri victories in fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. - Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a deal with Russia to end weeks of fierce clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020, after a string of Azerbaijani victories in its fight to retake the disputed re

Russia leaves little room for Turkey in Azeri-Armenian truce

The terms of the Russian-sponsored deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia speak of Moscow’s reluctance to let Turkey increase its influence in the region.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Witnessed by President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu signed a peace deal with the UAE and a declaration of intent to make peace with Bahrain. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Will Trump drag Netanyahu down with him?

Opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are claiming the downfall of US President Donald Trump heralds the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well.

Iraqi officials welcome Biden presidency

While Iraqi leaders and officials have welcomed a Biden presidency, there are worries about what direction US policy will take when it comes to Baghdad.

A Palestinian man reads the Al-Quds newspaper, headlined in Arabic "Joe Biden the new US President" outside the Dome of the Rock in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in the old city of Jerusalem on November 8, 2020. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians cautiously optimistic after Biden win

Palestinians are overjoyed by the defeat of Donald Trump in the US election, though officials are so far keeping their reactions subdued.

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Djerad prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station in the capital Algiers, during a vote for a revised constitution, on November 1, 2020 - Polls opened in Algeria today for a vote on a revised constitution the regime hopes will neutralise a protest movement which at its peak last year swept long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Algeria grants itself power to intervene in Libya

Although Algeria has long maintained its neutrality on the fighting in neighboring Libya, it has amended its constitution to allow itself to take military action if needed.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak addresses a press conference to announce his new economic policy and reforms in Istanbul on April 10, 2019. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shakeup of economy team stuns Turkey, cheers investors

Presidential son-in-law Berat Albayrak has quit as finance minister amid economic turmoil, but most news outlets pretended it didn’t happen.

Iranian political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Abbas Araghchi (C-R), and German Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Maria Schmid (C-L) attend a meeting of the Joint Commission on Iran's nuclear program (JCPOA) at EU Delegation to the International Organizations office in Vienna, Austria, on December 6, 2019. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Following Biden win, Iran says nuclear deal not up for review

Iranian officials have not been eager to speculate on what a Joe Biden US presidency means for their country.

Protesters with Yemeni flags protest in Parliament Square in London on July 5, 2020, against the continued conflict in Yemen at the same time that supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement listen to speeches in a further action in the aftermath of the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in police custody in the US. - Yemen has been locked in conflict since the Huthis took control of Sanaa in 2014 and went on to seize much of the north. The crisis escalated when the Saudi-led coalition intervened the

G20 should press Saudi Arabia on jailed activists, rights group says

Pressure is building on Riyadh ahead of the annual G20 summit later this month.

Members of the Armenian community in Israel hold banners in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on November 6, 2020, as they protest against Israel's arms sales to Azerbaijan and Turkey's support to the latter. - Israeli media say that Israel's Elbit Systems has sold Azerbaijan armed drones, which have shifted the military balance in the decades-old dispute in Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia in October recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at its weapons sales to Baku. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK G

Armenian-Israelis protest arms sales to Azerbaijan

Israel has kept a low profile on its military dealings with Azerbaijan, but Armenian-Israeli activists have taken the issue to the streets.