AL-MUKALLA: A Yemeni aid worker who was abducted by Houthis five years ago died while being detained by the Iran-backed militia, a local rights group said on Wednesday.

Ishraq Al-Maqtari, a spokesperson for the National Committee for Allegations of Human Rights Violations in Yemen, told Arab News that the Houthis called the wife of 45-year-old Yasser Mohammed Al-Junaid, who went missing in 2017 in the Red Sea town of Khokha, to tell her to go to Sanaa to collect her husband’s body.

BEIRUT: France’s ambassador to Lebanon has urged President Michel Aoun to respect constitutional deadlines on the election of his replacement as the country struggles to avoid a crippling political stalemate.

In talks with Aoun on Wednesday, Anne Grillo clarified the French position amid growing concerns of a possible presidential vacuum after Aoun’s term ends on Oct. 31.

DUBAI: Iran will not retreat from its “rightful and logical” stance in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear pact, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday, state television reported.
Iran refuses to hold direct talks with its arch-foe, the United States, and the last indirect meeting between them, in the Middle East nation of Qatar last month, failed to produce any breakthroughs.
“Americans say Iran should return to the nuclear pact, but the Islamic Republic never left the deal and it was Washington that violated the treaty,” Raisi added.

JERUSALEM: US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday for his first trip to the Middle East since taking office.

He will hold talks with Israeli, Palestinian, and Saudi Arabian officials during the four-day trip.

The president was received at Ben Gurion Airport by Israeli officials including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

LONDON: US President Joe Biden wants to use his Middle East trip this week to deepen Israel’s integration in the region and will be working toward “progress and momentum” on discussions surrounding relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the White House said on Monday.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said any normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia was likely to take a long time, but that Biden would be looking to make progress on that front during his trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week.