Iran, Yemen's Houthi Gov't Hold Joint Economic Meeting
Iran and the de-facto government of Yemen, the Houthi-led National Salvation Government (NSG), have held their first joint economic cooperation commission. The Iranian state media outlets said the meeting was held at Iran's Employment and Administrative Organisation and was attended by the body's Vice President Meysam Latifi and Sanaa's Ambassador to Iran, Ibrahim Al-Dailami. The meeting aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and economic ties between the two sides. Dailami has been the NSG's envoy to Tehran since being appointed in 2019.
Eight Arab countries have officially applied to join the BRICS group of fast-developing economies, the South African foreign minister said. Naledi Pandor told reporters that 23 countries have officially applied to join the group, including eight Arab countries. He indicated that BRICS leaders will discuss expanding the group and the submitted applications during their upcoming summit between 22-24 August. Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the countries that applied.
Anwar Gargash, a senior UAE Diplomatic Adviser, met with U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, to discuss the latest developments and international endeavors to resolve the Yemen crisis, the Emirati state-run WAM news agency reported. Gargash highlighted Saudi Arabia's leadership in pursuing a peaceful resolution to the crisis and its humanitarian consequences. He urged increased global collaboration, especially underlining the pivotal role of the U.S.
On Tuesday, Qatar confirmed its pivotal role in the Iranian-American dialogue. Majid Al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that Qatar facilitated recent negotiations for a prisoner exchange and dialogue resumption between the United States and Iran. On Thursday, U.S. officials reported that Tehran had transferred five Americans from prison to house arrest in the first step of an agreement that provides for the exchange of Iranian citizens detained in the United States for five Americans held in Iran and the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
U.N. experts said Monday Daesh still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq, and its fighters pose the most severe terrorist threat in Afghanistan today. The experts said that during the first half of 2023, the threat posed by I.S. remained "mostly high in conflict zones and low in non-conflict areas." Daesh has suffered significant losses in the group's leadership and reduced activity in Syria and Iraq. However, the risk of its resurgence remains.
