Yemeni forces are closing in on the strategic central city of Marib for a key battle against Saudi-led militants loyal to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and their Takfiri allies.

President Hassan Rouhani reaffirmed Iran’s opposition to any foreign interference in Iraq, saying security, integrity, peace and tranquility in the Arab state are among top priorities of the Islamic Republic.

Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, held closed-door talks with Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on the second day of his visit to the Arab country.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations warned of consequences of any possible miscalculated measure by Israel over an explosion that damaged an Israeli ship in the Sea of Oman last week.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the Arab League’s “fruitless claims” about three Persian Gulf islands, saying those territories are an “integral” part of the Iranian soil.

Iran’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna criticized a “preferential treatment” given to Israel that allows it to press ahead with advancing its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international calls, saying Tel Aviv’s activities at a highly-secretive nuclear facility pose a serious threat to regional and international security and stability.

Pope Francis, making the first trip by a pontiff to Iraq, made an impassioned call on Friday for an end to the militant violence, fratricide and religious strife that has plagued the country for decades, saying peacemakers should finally be given a chance.

By Marc Daou

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has referred to the latest wave of attacks against US bases in neighboring Iraq as “suspicious,” arguing it seems that external elements, such as the Israeli regime, are behind those operations.

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a message to the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah expressed his condolences on the demise of Head of Lebanon’s Association of Muslim Scholars Judge Sheikh Ahmad al-Zein.