ABU DHABI -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country, effective Thursday and until further notice, according to the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority.
The authority said in a statement that the decision was based on a U.S. ban on Iranian airlines' use of airports worldwide, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported. (UAE-Iran-Airlines)
- - - -
GAZA -- Hamas said Thursday it is ready to implement the roadmap agreed with the U.S.-led "Board of Peace" for the Gaza peace plan, adding that it has taken all necessary steps to do so.
Hazem Qassem, Hamas spokesperson, said in a statement that "the complete obstruction of the ceasefire agreement and its related roadmap is due to the Israeli government's refusal to abide by the agreement and its escalation of aggression against the people of the Gaza Strip, as well as the inability of the Board of Peace and its representative, Mladenov, to compel Israel to implement it." (Gaza-Hamas-Peace Plan)
- - - -
SANAA -- Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday evening that it had launched missile and drone attacks at a "sensitive target" in the Saudi capital Riyadh and an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, marking another round of long-range attacks amid an escalating confrontation with Saudi Arabia.
In a televised statement aired by Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the Houthi armed forces carried out two separate operations, one targeting a site in Riyadh and the other targeting an Aramco facility in Yanbu. (Yemen-Saudi Arabia-Houthis)
- - - -
BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government on Thursday officially signed an agreement to take over the U.S. embassy's diplomatic support center at Baghdad International Airport, according to an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement.
The agreement was signed at the ministry headquarters by Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom and charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Iraq Steven Fagin. (Iraq-U.S.-Diplomatic Support Center) ■
