WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it accused of supporting Hezbollah and Iran’s Quds Force, as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it designated members of the network that facilitated oil trades and generated revenue for Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Quds Force, an arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that operates abroad, both of which are under US sanctions.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s security forces in the southern province of Shabwa have busted an Iran-backed Houthi cell responsible for deadly attacks on security and military personnel in the area.

The country’s official news agency SABA reported that the security forces discovered a “terrorist” operation that had planted several roadside bombs and other explosive devices in the province’s capital.

Also uncovered, was a plot to assassinate Shabwa’s governor, officers of the Coalition for the Restoration of Legitimacy in Yemen, and other security and military officers.

BEIRUT: Lebanon has secured “American guarantees” that its maritime border deal with Israel cannot be easily scrapped should Benjamin Netanyahu return to the Israeli premiership, Beirut’s chief negotiator said Wednesday.
Israel and Lebanon struck a US-brokered sea border agreement last month that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields for the neighbors that remain technically at war.

LONDON: Jordan’s Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II has called for integrated Arab action to combat global crises in an address to the Arab Summit in Algiers.

In his speech at the summit, the crown prince focused on a range of topics, including the Palestinian cause, Arab trade and regional security. 

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was within reach of a governing majority and of making a political comeback, initial projections showed after Tuesday’s election, but the tally could shift as official results come in.
The margins appeared razor thin, as expected in the bitterly divided nation holding its fifth election in less than four years, but the early signs were positive for the veteran right-wing leader.