Daily News Brief - 02/08/2022

Aug 02, 2022

The Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, 71, leader of al-Qaeda was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on Sunday, according to a statement by American President Joe Biden. A surgeon by training, al-Zawahiri worked in Pakistan in the 1980s for the Red Crescent, treating Islamist mujahideen troops fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. During this time, he met Osama bin Laden, whom he succeeded as leader of al-Qaeda after his death in 2011 in a US strike.

The Iranian state TV reports that the intelligence ministry arrested a number of members belonging to the Baha’i faith. According to the ministry, they were linked to the Baha’i center in Israel and collected and transferred information there. The news raised concerns about a potential crackdown on followers of the religion who previously complained about occasional mistreatment by Iranian authorities.

The US Treasury and the US Department of State imposed new sanctions on six companies, four based in Hong Kong, one in Singapore, and one in the UAE, saying that they helped to sell tens of millions of dollars in Iranian oil and petrochemical products. The action comes as the US try to push Iran back into a new nuclear agreement, while one of its main demands is the removal of economic sanctions.

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Thousands of protesters took on the streets of Baghdad on Monday in a counter-protest against the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The demonstration was organized by al-Sadr’s political rival the Coordination Framework, an alliance of pro-Iran political parties. Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, whose resignation some of the protesters demanded on Monday, called on Iraqi parties to resort to dialogue and work on a roadmap to end the country’s political crisis.

The Israeli army conducted a night raid in the Jenin refugee camp and arrested the local leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group Bassem al-Saadi. Israel’s Shin Bet security agency confirmed that al-Saadi was the target of the operation, adding that his aide was also detained. The 17-year-old Dirar al-Kafrayni was shot and killed during the military operation. As a result of al-Saadi’s arrest, several areas near the Gaza border were closed by the Israeli forces, citing a risk of reprisals from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

US envoy Amos Hochstein met on Monday with Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid in an unannounced visit after leaving Lebanon’s capital of Beirut. The Americal official held meetings with several Lebanese leaders over the maritime border demarcation with Israel. According to Israeli reports, Hochstein also met with representatives of the Energy Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and the National Security Council.

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah issued a decree on Monday to establish a new government made up of 12 ministers, reducing their number from 15 in the previous cabinet. It comes after the government submitted its resignation in May, which was accepted by the emir only more than two months later.

Thirty aid agencies working in Yemen issued a joint statement on Monday, calling for the extension of the truce, one day before it expires. According to the statement, the humanitarian organizations, the extension would “support fuel shipments into the country, allow more people to benefit from commercial flights from Sana’a, and support humanitarian actors to reach those most in need.” As the truce is set to expire on Tuesday, intense diplomatic efforts are being done by parties involved in the conflict, with UN and US support, to renew it.

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