
Saudi FM Meets Egyptian, Iranian Counterparts in Oslo
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah held separate talks with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty and Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Oslo on Wednesday.
Meeting on the sidelines of the Oslo Forum 2025, discussions focused on Saudi Arabia's bilateral ties with each of Egypt and Iran.
They also tackled regional and international developments.
Prince Faisal and Abdelatty addressed the developments in Gaza and the West Bank and efforts exerted towards them.

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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
US helps Israel shoot down barrage of Iranian missiles
WASHINGTON: American air defense systems and Navy assets in the Middle East helped Israel shoot down incoming ballistic missiles Friday that Tehran launched in response to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and top military leaders, US officials said. The US has both ground-based Patriot missile defense systems and Terminal High Altitude Air Defense systems in the region capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, which Iran fired in multiple barrages in retaliation for Israel's initial attack. Naval assets also were involved in assisting Israel as Iran fired missiles at Tel Aviv, one official said. It was not immediately clear if ships fired interceptors or if their advanced missile tracking systems helped Israel identify incoming targets. The United States also is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to the strikes. The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House, US officials said. American fighter jets also are patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations, and air bases in the region are taking additional security precautions, the officials said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public or to discuss ongoing operations. President Donald Trump met with his National Security Council principals Friday to discuss options. The forces in the region have been taking precautionary measures for days, including having military dependents voluntarily depart regional bases, in anticipation of the strikes and to protect personnel in case of a large-scale response from Tehran. Typically around 30,000 troops are based in the Middle East, and about 40,000 troops are in the region now, according to a US official. That number surged as high as 43,000 last October amid the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran as well as continuous attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. The Navy has additional assets that it could surge to the Middle East if needed, particularly its aircraft carriers and the warships that sail with them. The USS Carl Vinson is in the Arabian Sea — the only aircraft carrier in the region. The carrier USS Nimitz is in the Indo-Pacific and could be directed toward the Middle East if needed, and the USS George Washington just left its port in Japan and could also be directed to the region if so ordered, one of the officials said. Then-President Joe Biden initially surged ships to protect Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that launched the war in Gaza. It was seen as a deterrent against Hezbollah and Iran at the time. On Oct. 1, 2024, US Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.


Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Netanyahu calls on Iranians to unite against ‘evil and oppressive regime'
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Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Strikes Iran for Second Night, Trump Says It's Not Too Late for Deal
Israel launched renewed attacks on Iran as evening fell on Friday, after its biggest ever attack against its longstanding foe blasted Iran's huge underground nuclear site at Natanz and wiped out its entire top echelon of military commanders. Iran said that in retaliation "the gates of hell will open", while Israel said the strikes were only the start of "Operation Rising Lion". US President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear program. As evening fell on Friday, Iranian media reported explosions on the northern and southern outskirts of Tehran and at Fordow, near the city of Qom, a second nuclear site which had been spared in the first wave of attacks. Air defenses were activated across Tehran and explosions could be heard in Isfahan. Israel's military said it was striking Iranian missile and drone launching sites, and had struck another nuclear site in Isfahan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli campaign was aimed at defeating an existential threat from Iran, invoking the failure to halt the Holocaust in World War Two. Israel's operation "will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," he said in a TV address. "Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future." Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had "unleashed its wicked and bloody" hand and would suffer "a bitter fate". In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump said it was not clear if Iran's nuclear program had survived. He said nuclear talks between Tehran and the United States, scheduled for Sunday, were still on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place. "We knew everything," Trump said of the Israeli attack plans. "I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out," Trump said. "They can still work out a deal, however, it's not too late." Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left." Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said military action by itself would not destroy Iran's nuclear program, but could "create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States" to get rid of it. DECAPITATION Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a stunning decapitation reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon's once-feared Hezbollah group last year. Iran also said six of its top nuclear scientists had been killed. Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, swiftly promoted to replace Salami as Guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the Supreme Leader read out on state television: "The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime." Iranians described an atmosphere of fear and anger, with some people rushing to change money and others seeking a way out of the country to safety. "People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic, we were all terrified," said Marziyeh, 39, who was awakened by a blast in Natanz. While some Iranians quietly hoped the attack would lead to changes in Iran's hardline clerical leadership, others vowed to rally behind the authorities. "I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear program. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks," said Ali, a member of the pro-government Basij militia in Qom. 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Iran said in a letter to the Council that it would respond decisively and proportionally to Israel's "unlawful" and "cowardly" acts. The price of crude leapt on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region, although there were no reports that oil production or storage was damaged. OPEC said the escalation did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply. An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the country before the attack, and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran's strategic missile array. Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had bombarded Iran's air defenses, destroying "dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers". Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage to the underground nuclear site at Natanz is clear, where Iran has refined uranium to levels Western countries have long said are suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. The UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty. Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran had rejected the last US offer.